Hey there,
I am new to swimming, but have recently been swimming quite a bit and am experiencing crazy tightness in both sides of my neck. The muscle that is hurting is my sternocleidomastiod (I know this because I hold stress here and often have to have it massaged). I have been primarily working on my freestyle stroke, so I am thinking that is probably the cause. I know I **** my head back a little bit when I swim and am constantly working to keep my face looking directly at the bottom of the pool and my head in line with my body. I am thinking, though, that what may be hurting my neck the most is when I breathe. I breathe on both sides, but am not sure what the proper technique/alignment is for breathing. Can anyone help? Also, has anyone had this issue and then had it go away? If so, I would be interested in hearing what you did to help your stroke specifically.
Thank you!
I get neck soreness and found that warming up using a swimmers snorkel really helps. I nearly always do my warmup with snorkel. I highly recommend using a nose clip with the snorkel or else turns are a challenge at first. I hope this helps.
I get neck soreness and found that warming up using a swimmers snorkel really helps. I nearly always do my warmup with snorkel. I highly recommend using a nose clip with the snorkel or else turns are a challenge at first. I hope this helps.
