Hey everyone. So recently, I was in a car accident and it injured my back and left leg pretty bad. I haven't been able to swim, or even hit the gym in a while due the pain I was in.
I have been a swimmer most of my life. I was a competitive swimmer all through junior high and high school. I also swam in a swim club in college. I just turned 32 and I haven't swam though for just over 6 months, and I'm finally ready to dust off my Speedos and to start swimming again.
I live in Arizona, so I can do swimming year round hear and not worry about the weather. Just wondering though what kind of swimming workouts should I start up again after not swimming for 6 months? I don't want to start out with an extremely intense workout and then injure my back and leg again. What workouts would you guys recommend for a guy who's 6 foot and 185 pounds, but hasn't been swimming for over 6 months. I'm hoping to start swimming again on a daily basis like I used to, but for now my doctor doesn't want me to swim more than days a week for the time being.
Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.
Expectant Mothers and Limited Mobility is a good place to start. There is no one right way to get back into the swim of things though. Your injuries are unique to you. Use another practice as a template and modify it based on what you can handle.
Let me give you two examples. In 2003, I took 4 months off to ride my bike across the country. When I got back in the water, I gave myself about 2 weeks before starting to push harder. During those two weeks, I swam alot of shorter distance repeats - I hate doing anything longer than a 500 in practice.
However, 2012, I had a pretty bad accident - not like yours (I broke both heels) and was in a wheelchair for 9 weeks, so was doing absolutely nothing. When I was cleared to start again, all I did was easy straight swimming (2 minute/100 pace) for an hour and no flip turns because my ankles and heels were very weak. That lasted 3-4 weeks (5x/week) before I could start doing more.
If I was your coach, given what you are recovering from, I would suggest 30 minute practices for the first couple of weeks: Nothing longer than a 100, lots of rest, low intensity, any kicking is on your back and no dolphin kicking. At some point, you will want to try a flip turn and/or harder swimming and you should try it to see what happens. After a couple of weeks, I would chat with you about how you are feeling and make adjustments as appropriate.
It is important to gauge your recovery on the basis of how you feel and not based on length of time. Your brain and body will let you know when you can handle more.
Good Luck - will be rooting for you. :)
Expectant Mothers and Limited Mobility is a good place to start. There is no one right way to get back into the swim of things though. Your injuries are unique to you. Use another practice as a template and modify it based on what you can handle.
Let me give you two examples. In 2003, I took 4 months off to ride my bike across the country. When I got back in the water, I gave myself about 2 weeks before starting to push harder. During those two weeks, I swam alot of shorter distance repeats - I hate doing anything longer than a 500 in practice.
However, 2012, I had a pretty bad accident - not like yours (I broke both heels) and was in a wheelchair for 9 weeks, so was doing absolutely nothing. When I was cleared to start again, all I did was easy straight swimming (2 minute/100 pace) for an hour and no flip turns because my ankles and heels were very weak. That lasted 3-4 weeks (5x/week) before I could start doing more.
If I was your coach, given what you are recovering from, I would suggest 30 minute practices for the first couple of weeks: Nothing longer than a 100, lots of rest, low intensity, any kicking is on your back and no dolphin kicking. At some point, you will want to try a flip turn and/or harder swimming and you should try it to see what happens. After a couple of weeks, I would chat with you about how you are feeling and make adjustments as appropriate.
It is important to gauge your recovery on the basis of how you feel and not based on length of time. Your brain and body will let you know when you can handle more.
Good Luck - will be rooting for you. :)
