I have a jacked-up LPHC which I suspect is at least partially the result of my having aggressively lifted weights with improper form in my early 20s. My right spinal erector is extremely short and overdeveloped and my right lat very tight, which results in my right leg being slightly shorter than my left, which results in knee pain and shoulders that tend to tilt to the right, and...well, it's a mess.
Yes, yes, I know: I should see a physical therapist. But money's tight and, probably more relevantly, I'm being a big *** about the prospect of hearing the diagnosis. I have the NASM cert, at least, so I have at least a basic idea of what's going on anatomically, and how to address it with exercise.
Anyway, are any of you like me in that you swim because you must--because you have some intolerable problem for which it seems to be the best remedy? I've swum almost every day for the last two months, and while I like to tell myself that's because I'm Mr. Discipline, I'm really behaving more like a painkiller addict who still has chronic pain. I rarely get frustrated if I seem not to be improving, because being a good swimmer is not my primary concern. Alleviating the pain and tension is, and that happens without fail.
Yes. The intolerable problem is me, or more specifically, my mind. :) After taking a 30+ year taper I came back to swimming and realized it was a necessity in my life. Perhaps for my life. It's the best exercise for me, makes me happy, keeps the weight-creep away, and generally is something I'm not entirely sure how I went so many decades without.
As others have said, it's also an exercise I can do a lot of without having to deal with aches and pains that come with things like running or jogging which in my case could create intolerable problems.
And of great importance to me it's something I can do for the rest of my life, unlike many sports and exercises where the older you get the harder it gets until you basically have to stop. Not with swimming.
My problem is also one of the mind to some degree. It isn't just that swimming stretches out my tight muscles in low gravity-it's that it dissolves ugly thought patterns that make my tight muscles worse. That may be its primary physical benefit for me, actually.
Yes. The intolerable problem is me, or more specifically, my mind. :) After taking a 30+ year taper I came back to swimming and realized it was a necessity in my life. Perhaps for my life. It's the best exercise for me, makes me happy, keeps the weight-creep away, and generally is something I'm not entirely sure how I went so many decades without.
As others have said, it's also an exercise I can do a lot of without having to deal with aches and pains that come with things like running or jogging which in my case could create intolerable problems.
And of great importance to me it's something I can do for the rest of my life, unlike many sports and exercises where the older you get the harder it gets until you basically have to stop. Not with swimming.
My problem is also one of the mind to some degree. It isn't just that swimming stretches out my tight muscles in low gravity-it's that it dissolves ugly thought patterns that make my tight muscles worse. That may be its primary physical benefit for me, actually.
