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'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.
Kick using alignment board and snorkel to maintain better alignment in water and take strain off lower back.
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Study how how to fix low back pain with exercises for glutes, hips, abs and kinetic chain. Learn how to maintain neutral spine through bracing techniques. I'm 63 and my low back issues also started showing up in my 40s. The things I mentioned are some of the ways I solved the problem.
At 44 I had a L5/S1 lamenectomy surgery to correct a disc that was pinching a nerve. My doctor, who works mostly with triathletes, told me to never use a kickboard again for flutter kicking sets. I started using a swim snorkel with a streamline to stretch and kick at the same time. I have been pain free for almost 2 years!
I know I'm reviving a rather old thread, but wanted to say how much I LOVE those guys' videos. Another amazing YouTube channel for stretches lately is Dr. Ben Kim. He is a naturopath I think, in Canada, and blogs about a lot of health topics, but he has some fantastic stretching moves videos. I think we ALL could probably stretch more than we do, I KNOW I should!
edited to say, er, I was intending to reply to Elaine's post from the two chiropractors with videos on PT! I don't think this is showing up as connected to it, but if you scroll back just a bit in the thread, you will see Elaine's post with a video link in it. :doh:
I know I'm reviving a rather old thread, but wanted to say how much I LOVE those guys' videos. Another amazing YouTube channel for stretches lately is Dr. Ben Kim. He is a naturopath I think, in Canada, and blogs about a lot of health topics, but he has some fantastic stretching moves videos. I think we ALL could probably stretch more than we do, I KNOW I should!
edited to say, er, I was intending to reply to Elaine's post from the two chiropractors with videos on PT! I don't think this is showing up as connected to it, but if you scroll back just a bit in the thread, you will see Elaine's post with a video link in it. :doh:
Well, I know exactly what/who you are talking about. :D I'm glad you found those videos useful!
I am not a coach but, from reading the responses, I can tell you that I do lots of kicking on my back with fins and without. I love the feel of short fins. When I flutter kick on front with a kickboard, I always use a freestyle snorkle to take pressure off my back and neck.
