I'm grateful to be able to reach out with a question.
So im new to swimming. Never been good at it so I got some long fins to help my kick. Long story short I got so into it having so much fun I would do like 30 round trip laps every day on the kick board with no stretching afterwards. In the beginning I felt just fine. But after around two months I realized I was starting to get super tight all up and down my legs. So much so that my hamstrings are now like steel and pulling very tightly on my low back.
Its clear that i probably need to cut down how much I swim and also stretch as much as I can each time I finish.
but the question is how to proceed now that I have steel cables for muscles...I feel like I need to make up for two months of no stretching but that is obviously impossible. Does anyone have experience doing something foolish like this due to over ambition and just plain enjoying themselves? I'm bummed because my back has been aching even after a week of rest and I want to get back into it. Any thoughts?
im 44 if it makes any difference.
Thanks and glad to be here.
I recommend dynamic stretching before you swim and static stretching after you swim. Before you start doing ANY stretching, I would recommend watching some YouTube videos on how to do it correctly. Enter "Physical therapy exercises for back" in the YouTube search box for some good ones. Here is one to get you started:
http://youtu.be/fbaPoKuHi1A
Elaine is quite right on dynamic vs static stretching. A cold muscle is a short muscle. Also I feel you are using the wrong kind of fins for swimming. Long fins are great for snorkeling/scuba but cause way too much knee band and a slower tempo when using them due to increased drag when bending your knees too much. Fins with short lengths are better for swimming. This way you get more resistance but can better maintain a six beat cadence using shallow surface kicking. If your legs extend down n the "hard water" they create frontal drag both on the way down and back up. Try to kick in the hole your upper body is making in the water as much as possible.
I recommend dynamic stretching before you swim and static stretching after you swim. Before you start doing ANY stretching, I would recommend watching some YouTube videos on how to do it correctly. Enter "Physical therapy exercises for back" in the YouTube search box for some good ones. Here is one to get you started:
http://youtu.be/fbaPoKuHi1A
Elaine is quite right on dynamic vs static stretching. A cold muscle is a short muscle. Also I feel you are using the wrong kind of fins for swimming. Long fins are great for snorkeling/scuba but cause way too much knee band and a slower tempo when using them due to increased drag when bending your knees too much. Fins with short lengths are better for swimming. This way you get more resistance but can better maintain a six beat cadence using shallow surface kicking. If your legs extend down n the "hard water" they create frontal drag both on the way down and back up. Try to kick in the hole your upper body is making in the water as much as possible.
