After 20 years of no exercise at all - I've recently started swimming again. It's been about 6 months since I re-started swimming, and I'm up to 3000 yards a day, about half of that is IM.
The problem: About three weeks ago my left shoulder started popping. I'd say that it's popping out of it's socket, but it's more like when you crack your knuckles (or whatever you like to crack) :) Pretty much it does it all day long. If I straighten my arm to the side and twist my wrist - my shoulder pops/cracks.
In the pool I've noticed (during crawl mostly) that my left shoulder (when I breathe to the right) feel like it's hyper extending. I've been trying to compensate by breathing to my left more, but it seems like it's getting a little worse over the last few weeks.
Obviously I don't expect professional medical advice. But, it would help me to know if anyone else has similar problems or advice as to what exercises, stretches, swimming technique, or anything else that I might consider doing.
All I can come up with is stretching more (I don't do very much), but I'm slightly worried that it's possible to hyper-extend it more (if that's what it is). I'm also considering spending more time on drills, and less on sprints for a while.
I'm not in allot of pain. Mostly my shoulder is just uncomfortable all day long. The most pain, and it's not that severe, is in the pool. When it happens (and it's happened only three or four times) I stop swimming and start my warm down.
Thanks.
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Former Member
Originally posted by mrcnwmn
In the pool I've noticed (during crawl mostly) that my left shoulder (when I breathe to the right) feel like it's hyper extending. I've been trying to compensate by breathing to my left more, but it seems like it's getting a little worse over the last few weeks.
Since you mention that it depends to some extent on which side you breath on it may be that you are not rotating enough to the nonbreathing side. With my own shoulder I find that any arm movement behind the plane of my body tends to cause problems. As illustration, in the extreme, if you were to swim perfectly flat and recover with a high elbow your arm would be moving mostly behind the plane of your body and be very prone to stress and infringement. If you rotate all the way onto your side, keep your elbow high and your hand low your arm will stay entirely in front of the plane of your body. You don't have to rotate all the way onto your side to avoid the problem, it is just something to monitor and experiment with. I have found that if I complete my exhale before my face comes out of the water to breath in and then take a quick breath and return my head to facing down that I get a more natural and fuller roll to the non-breathing side, i.e. extending the breath too long can interfere with a smooth natural roll.
I have also experienced shoulder issues related to way I was extending my arm out in front, but can't nail down what was wrong or what I did to fix it, but it is no longer a problem. Sounds like you are already getting a handle on that aspect. I've read that rotating your wrist when the arm is fully extended and exerting a force is a BadThing(TM).
Doing some rotator cuff exercises certainly can't hurt. I think the important thing is determine what causes the pain and adjust to avoid the problem - swimming through the pain is definately a recipe for bigger problems.
Good luck!
Originally posted by mrcnwmn
In the pool I've noticed (during crawl mostly) that my left shoulder (when I breathe to the right) feel like it's hyper extending. I've been trying to compensate by breathing to my left more, but it seems like it's getting a little worse over the last few weeks.
Since you mention that it depends to some extent on which side you breath on it may be that you are not rotating enough to the nonbreathing side. With my own shoulder I find that any arm movement behind the plane of my body tends to cause problems. As illustration, in the extreme, if you were to swim perfectly flat and recover with a high elbow your arm would be moving mostly behind the plane of your body and be very prone to stress and infringement. If you rotate all the way onto your side, keep your elbow high and your hand low your arm will stay entirely in front of the plane of your body. You don't have to rotate all the way onto your side to avoid the problem, it is just something to monitor and experiment with. I have found that if I complete my exhale before my face comes out of the water to breath in and then take a quick breath and return my head to facing down that I get a more natural and fuller roll to the non-breathing side, i.e. extending the breath too long can interfere with a smooth natural roll.
I have also experienced shoulder issues related to way I was extending my arm out in front, but can't nail down what was wrong or what I did to fix it, but it is no longer a problem. Sounds like you are already getting a handle on that aspect. I've read that rotating your wrist when the arm is fully extended and exerting a force is a BadThing(TM).
Doing some rotator cuff exercises certainly can't hurt. I think the important thing is determine what causes the pain and adjust to avoid the problem - swimming through the pain is definately a recipe for bigger problems.
Good luck!
