Swimmer Magazine: Scapula Article

Thanks, Fly! Congratulations on those big time drops! :cheerleader: Better yet, way to go on having pain-free shoulders. You did the right thing going to PT AND having your stroke evaluated.:agree: It paid off for you! :applaud:

Thanks for the kind words! The Lexington Clinic sent me a .pdf that has pictures illustrating the scapular exercises. Anyone who wants can send me an email jamesthornton1@comcast.net and I will happily forward you a copy! If nothing else, I recommend periodically squeezing your shoulder blades together to strengthen the muscles that retract these. If you lift weights, you might want to recruit these when you do any arm exercises, like the row. Just be conscious of those scapuli! Swimming tends to shift them forward; we need to bolster the muscles that bring them back.

I think I can attach the .pdf here! Trying to, at least!

I think I can attach the .pdf here! Trying to, at least! Thanks, Jim! I sent you an e-mail before I read your second post. Thanks for attaching the .pdf file here! :applaud:

Thanks for posting this, and I too, found it a great article. I broke my shoulder a few years ago and had surgery on it to shave the bones down. In PT afterwards, the doc gave me all kinds of good things to do to keep the shoulder and scapula in check. As I was training for Key West, I got into an issue where it felt like my lat on my left side was torn or something. It was so painful, I ended up going back to PT. It finally healed with some rest and lower mileage a few months later, but then it flared up again last winter. This time, I went back to my shoulder doc and he did the test to see if I had a winged scapula. Sure enough, it was there. I did a lot of PT once again, mostly at home with the bands, and it healed again. The biggest key you said is number 5 above. Get that stroke evaluated. My new coach saw that I was crossing over on my left side and had some other issues, but with some good tweaking and slow work, he's completely redone my stroke. I haven't had any pain at all since then and have increased mileage considerably this season. Definitely get your stroke evaluated if you are having issues like this. And as a bonus, my times have dropped considerably!! Good post! - Kari

Kudos to Jim Thornton for his excellent article in the current issue of Swimmer Magazine! :applaud: Jim, your articles are always informative and enjoyable to read. Thanks! Jim, if you come across any good videos of the exercises you wrote about in your article, will you please post them on this thread? It's important to do the exercises correctly, and the visuals would really help! Forumites, make sure to read this article and take it seriously. Even though I was already doing a routine of shoulder exercises prescribed by my physical therapist back when I had surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome in 1993, I still developed snapping scapula syndrome when I tweaked my training routine to prepare for racing the 1650 at Spring Nationals. All it took was adding this set to my weekly routine: 16x100 free. The repetitiveness of that set when I was used to training IM six days/week was enough for me to develop a click (or snap) that I heard and felt in my right scapula. As a person with a body that is very susceptible to repetitive stress injuries (and having had surgery for snapping hip syndrome due to repetitive walking during my 31 non-swimming years), I knew to take it seriously. I immediately made an appointment with my PT for an evaluation and had a couple of sessions of dry needling therapy. In addition, he made some adjustments to my PT routine, including switching the angle of my Theraband pull exercise. The other thing he did is tape my scapula and photograph it, so my husband could re-tape my scapula correctly. MY ADVICE :2cents:: 1. If you develop ANY repetitive clicking or snapping in any joint, take it seriously, even if is not painful. If you ignore it, you could end up with a labral tear or other problems that may require surgery. 2. The BEST thing you could do is see a sports physical therapist for an evaluation and follow ALL of their advice. The exercises they prescribe will be specific for your problem, and it's important to continue doing them, even after your symptoms resolve. 3. If you are not a backstroker, and you do not swim any backstroke in your workouts, START. Swimming only free, ***, and fly will develop imbalances in your muscles. If you are not lifting weights in the gym to work your lats and other back muscles, you need to do exercises targeting those muscles to keep everything in balance. Swimming backstroke will help, even if it's during warm-up and cool-down. 4. If you use Kinesiotape, learn how to use it correctly. If you won't see a physical therapist, at least go on YouTube and view videos Kinesio has posted on how to use their tape correctly. Still, you should have your ailment evaluated first! 5. Have your stroke evaluated. It could be poor stroke technique causing your problem. In my case, I did that first. I had my husband shoot topside and underwater video of all my strokes, and I sent the links to my part-time coach. Although I have far-from-perfect strokes, there was nothing he saw that was causing my specific problem. That is when I knew it was the increase in freestyle yardage (and decrease in training the other strokes) that was the issue. Since going through PT and resuming my IM training routine, I have not had any further problems. I continue to do my PT exercises each day, and I keep my scapula taped. ***Keep in mind that Kinesio tape is NOT allowed in competition. I removed mine for last weekend's Ironman Pentathlon. Good luck, and stay healthy! :D Do, more backstroke since its my worst stroke these days. It seems good advice.

I miss Vlog, The Inhaler. Where did he disappear to? Perhaps I will revive the old Vlog one of these days! I certainly have no shortage of items to whine about, in the process, making any readers feel better about their lives! Thanks for the sentiment!

Thanks for the article, Jim. I wait patiently for the mail to arrive. (Is it in an as-yet-undelivered issue of Swimmer?) :bighug: I know that feeling, Skip. I love it when a new Swimmer Magazine shows up in the mail! I read it cover-to-cover, even the ads! "But wait, there's more!" graces the cover of this issue. Yes, Mr. Oxi Clean himself. Actually, I enjoyed reading about him. What a success! :applaud: As always, this issue is loaded with great info., but I always enjoy Jim's articles the most! :agree:

Thanks for the article, Jim. I wait patiently for the mail to arrive. (Is it in an as-yet-undelivered issue of Swimmer?) On an only tangentially related note, I miss Vlog, The Inhaler. Where did he disappear to?

I find the magazine almost impossible to read. First there si green on many pages. Second the type is small. Third I am just not interested in the articles. I don't care who is swimming with me. If we have made friends that's cool but made friends that 's not because fo their status. Also there are several foreign former Olympians who weren't mentioned who have lived in the US for years. I dont see the magazine as that great of a benefit of memberships.