I was wondering if anyone ever experiences forearm discomfort both during swimming and afterwards? I just turned 50 a couple of days ago and have been experiencing this problem off and on for a couple of years now. I normally swim 3500 to 4000 yards or meters 4 to 6 days a week (have been fairly consistant for the past 10 years). I'm hoping to pump up the training this year in order to do well at Worlds in August.
This is so hard to describe but here goes: this pain/soreness/weakness is from the elbow down; usually my left forearm is a bit worse since it's weaker than my right. There's no numbness involved; the closest analogy would be a shinsplit to describe the feeling. There's no pain whatsoever if there's no pressure on either forearm. However, if I touch my chin with either hand and apply mild pressure, I can definitely feel it. The sensation seems to be located more towards the "inside" or "underside" of each forearm.
The pain isn't intense and hasn't prevented me from training, but I am concerned. In the past, I've found that I can swim through it and I intend to start weight training next week. I also "ice" both forearms after every workout and this seems to help. I've talked to my coaches and many swimmers about this and no one's ever heard of my condition, so I decided to try this forum.
If anyone has had a similar problem, I'd greatly appreciate hearing about your experience and how you dealt with it...
Many thanks!
Dave Schrader
Former Member
David: What you have is commonly called Golf Elbow but is not always caused by the golf swing. I had the problem last year and it became very painful for a period of four to six weeks. I believed most of my problem was caused by using the paddles to often in training. I slowly improved over time without doing anything special but weight training and increasing the range of motion in the area. They both helped over time. I also went for the shot for the pain early on but that provided only temporary relief. I'm almost 55 and it took me about 4 to 6 month to get mostly free of the pain. Sorry!
Former Member
My thanks to George for sending his video and Paul for his experience with his "golf elbow"... it sounds like I have a similar condition. I'm finding that as I'm starting to do more intense workouts again, my forearms seem to be adapting to the extra workload and the pain & soreness aren't quite so bad. I believe that I'm going to be able to train through this condition. As much as I hate to admit to myself, I think this is more of a symptom of aging (ouch!) and my body just not recovering like it used to when I was 40.
This getting older stuff is not for wimps (although I do feel like one at times)...
:eek: Dave
P.S. Paul, hope you set some sprint records when you age up...
Former Member
Hopefully I'm not done yet in the 50yr old group. Ive already moved up in meters for Worlds. We will see!!!
