What do I do to get past these sore shoulders? Am I working out too hard? Is there anything that works to calm the soreness? If I keep swimming will they get worse? Or do I need to swim the soreness out?
It won't necessarily get worse, but you definitely want to be careful. You may have increased yardage too quickly or the workouts have just accumulated to the point of soreness. Suggestions:
1. Shoulder exercises, exactly what no200fly linked.
2. Icing your shoulders on a daily basis is certainly no way to go through life. Hopefully, your body will become adjusted to the workload just like cheakamus' experience. Alternatively, I've found Biofreeze to be very relieving. Icy Hot might be just as good and readily available. Use sparingly.
3. Make sure your technique is sound, as that could potentially be causing discomfort.
4. Be wary of working through pain. It's better to progress slowly, than backtrack if you develop tendonitis.
5. Don't be afraid to take a day or two off or very light yardage.
I agree with the two previous posts.
All swimmers should do exercises for rotator cuff.
In most cases, shoulder injuries are caused by stroke flaws.
When I coach, I always tell my swimmers that if they use paddles (which I love), they must not strap them on tightly. Take off the wrist band. If you do the stroke incorrectly, they will come off - that's a clue. If you have them strapped on tightly, you will continue to do the stroke incorrectly with more resistance and develop shoulder problems more quickly than without paddles.
Learn the difference between "sore" and "pain" and treat appropriately. I've swam for 35 years and never had swimming related shoulder issues so my advice is the same as above. Do strengthening/rehabilatative exercises and use ice, heat, ibuprofen as necessary.
I recently had some shoulder problems. I felt some shoulder pain, and would occasionally hear some clicks and pops as I moved the arm around. Sometimes I would feel slight pain down my arm on the biceps muscle at the elbow joint, as well as up to my neck. I took ibuprofen, used ice, and reduced my intensity a little in workouts. I also worked at shoulder stabilization exercises. All of this helped, but it seemed to be taking way too long (6 to 8 weeks and only small improvement). I went to my massage therapist, told her all the symptoms, and she identified two places that were contributing to locking the shoulder blade and shoulder joint. The clicks were these muscles pulling the shoulder joint in bad directions because they were so tight. One area she worked on was the coracoid process. In less than a week my workout intensity went up to the max, and with a little self-massage in the areas she pointed out, my shoulder is at 100%. No pain. No clicks. No referred pain.
There are many kinds of potential shoulder problems, as it is a complex joint. My point is that you should seek out professionals who really understand the bio-mechanics of these structures. My doctor would say I had a shoulder impingement and would tell me to lay off swimming for an extended period. Find a good physical therapist, massage therapist, or perhaps osteopath. A really good one will be able to tell you whether your muscles are locked up and contributing to the problem (and be able to release them) or whether there is a possible rotator cuff tear, etc. Mine is worth her weight in gold.
What do I do to get past these sore shoulders? Am I working out too hard? Is there anything that works to calm the soreness? If I keep swimming will they get worse? Or do I need to swim the soreness out?
Try doing some exercises that strengthen your rotator cuff – like the ones shown here:
www.usaswimming.org/ViewMiscArticle.aspx
This helped my problems with my shoulders when I had pain in the past.
It depends how sore they are and why, I guess. When I first started swimming masters, three years ago, I frequently came home from practice, took an ibuprofen, and lay on the couch with an ice pack on my shoulders. After a month or two, I found I no longer experienced any shoulder pain from swimming.
I would probably go see a doctor if I thought the pain was getting worse.
thank you for all the excellent replys!! I swam an open-water 2.4 followed by some sprint butterfly at the senior games. developed this pain now only in my left shoulder. It is very hard to back off when friends want to get out and go in workouts! I want to go too, but do not want to risk not being able to swim! I do have bio freeze and never thought of trying it. I will see a pt or massage person tomorrow- just for advice, and will check out the exercises and web- site. Thanks everyone! Still open for more ideas also!!
If you usually only breathe on your right side, the left shoulder pain could be caused by breathing. Breathing bilaterally or on your left side could help you heal. You should also get someone to look at your stroke to see if you need to fix anything.
