HELP!!!
I am starting to have left knee pain, and now some sharp right hip pain when swimming breaststroke. I know enough that I have to take some time off from swimming breaststroke, but what should I look at after the pains go away so that I do not repeat this injury.
Sort of upsetting because this is my favorite stroke. Perhaps, it's just me getting old and the warranty has run out, but in 32 years of swimming I have never had this amount of pain from the kick.
Thoughts, suggestions?
Thanks!
-Chris
Chris,
Many times, knee pain is caused by an imbalance between the quadriceps and the hamstrings - usually the hamstrings becoming tighter (i.e. more contracted). It usually shows up on the inside of the knee, but not always. If you are not doing any kind of hamstring stretch or quadricep stretching, this is the first thing I have my swimmers do. Generally, strengthening of one of the other is less an issue.
It can also be caused by an imbalance between the abductors and adductors of the leg (inside and outside muscles of the upper leg). There are stretches for these as well as strengthening exercises.
The right hip could be an imbalance with the left side which is causing some of your left knee pain. There are hip stretches as well - like the "figure 4" that stretch the piriformis and glutes.
If various stretches do not help, visiting your local PT might be a good idea. I always liked getting a good massage as well.
If those don't work, you might have to go the next step to see if there is ligament/structural damage.
Good Luck
Paul
Swimmers knee (or Breaststrokers knee). It's common. This may help. It discusses both the issue with knee, and the hip, and what you can do to prevent it. Just Google around and you can find plenty about it.
www.yourswimlog.com/.../
Dan
Sorry to hear about your knee pain and hip pain! In the breaststroke, this type of discomfort is usually due to overuse or practicing with too wide of a kick. My first advice would be to see an orthopedic specialist for advice or treatment.
Beyond this, if you post a video of your stroke here, it will be easier to see if there are any issues with your kicking technique that might be causing your pain. In the meantime, you can try practicing drills that combine breaststroke pull with, for example, dolphin kick or breaststroke pull with freestyle kick. This way, you are able to still work on breaststroke without putting as much of a burden on your knees/hips.
In the link to this article, you'll find an example of breaststroke pull dolphin kick and breaststroke pull freestyle kick demonstrated by Olympian Ruta Meilutyte:
www.swimspire.com/.../
You can also try varying your stroke in workouts and ease up on the breaststroke a bit to see if the pain subsides. Keeping a balance between different strokes will help to strengthen different muscle groups, as well as to avoid injuries.
Good luck!
My Doc is not surprised. He grumbled something nasty about "being past the parts warranty" before he told me to rest and not swim breaststroke for a while.
