Swimming Uninjured..Is it possible?

Wow, some great replies here and we have HUMOR today (Yippee)!! Since I have been a previously injured swimmer having surgical repairs, (I'm like George, I have metal in lots of places now so I almost glow in the dark), I think Beth and Fort's sister are thinking like I do now. After the surgeries and upon returning to competitive swimming, I did all the right things with PT, exercises, proper warmups, etc. But over and over again, my left shoulder just screamed at me when I piled the yardage on. But now I do something much different, and I will say that I do believe my technique is very sound when swimming slow or swimming fast; very consistent in my swim movements; I swim controlled by nature. The thing I do differently is I now know for certain I need an extremely long warmup. At least 1000 yards minimum, but a full mile is even better. Now I know in masters' swimming time constraints can prevent this for many, but I don't have that issue. The longer I warmup, the better my main sets and sprinting are. The second component to my now being able to swim with no shoulder pain is not how far I swim, but how often. I used to swim 5 days in a row, this year I have decided to do it differently; train smarter. I swim Mondays, Wednesday, Fridays and Saturdays. Those inbetween days are working miracles for my previous bad shoulder. It is like I never had a shoulder problem, I am not icing at all. And today's swim was a mile warmup, rested for 5 minutes, then swam two, 2 mile swims for time with 5 minutes inbetween. Now my 2 mile swim time is still not what it should be but I have only been back swimming since Jan. 15th. Today's 2 mile swim was a 51:08; two weeks ago it was a 54:02. And the beauty is my shoulder was so happy it was singing the song we all know: Keep On Swimming! So, for this swimmer here, I have figured out how to offset pain from a previous injury, at least for now, and it is of course swimming with technique, but it is giving my body a break and not swimming every single day like I used to do. But on the days I train, the mileage is going up. And I am not strength training any more, I am letting swimming give me the strength. Donna

I have to believe that chronic injuries are some how rooted in genetic make up/predisposition. I was rarely injured in college/post college except when I was doing something stupid (jumping on a trampoline after a few to many beers)..... posted by Tall Paul Jumping on a trampoline after having a few too many eh Paul....Maybe we should start calling you Johnny Knoxville or Stevo now....LOL!!:rofl: I am glad your knee is improving Paul. I want to see the Smith showdown in Austin 2008....So you better heal up now big boy...and stay off of the trampolines o.k.!! Newmastersswimmer Jim....it was 1984 in Santa Barbara....there was absolutely no alcohol involved and I was fully clothed....I think.... :groovy: enuf said! Charlie Brown is already getting himself worked up for Austin....I have to decide how badly I want to crush his fragile ego....he is after all seeing a cardiologist these days...oh wait...so am I!

Jim....he can claim all the home field advantage he wants because the last "showdown" between he and I in Austin was 1981....and I kicked his behind in the 100 free!

1981, geez! I was barely out of the womb ... ;) I'm just saying that was awhile ago ... I can't wait to watch this show down! Fantastic. I'd book my tickets and hotel right now if I could ...

Thoughts? and the reason I am mentioning this is if I am to train and try to swim 18 miles, how many miles do I have to swim first to feel good and really swim that distance? I mean, who ever heard of a warmup before an 18 mile swim? I haven't!! Donna I would venture to say that for a swim of that duration the first few minutes of the swim would adequately serve as a warmup. Perhaps something similiar to how I used to warm up for a long run....real slow and easy at first then transition to planned pace as your muscles become accustomed to it. When I used to run I even used to warm up for a marathon by spending 15-20 minutes of easy jogging and acceleration runs. That way I was ready to go right to my race pace (6:00 min/mi) at the start.

I have to believe that chronic injuries are some how rooted in genetic make up/predisposition. I was rarely injured in college/post college except when I was doing something stupid (jumping on a trampoline after a few to many beers)..... And in fact the very things that may have at an early age helped may now be hurting....primarily hyper-flexibility which the docs tell me now has contributed in a big way to the overuse injuries I've had that led to 2 shoulder surgeries and two knee surgeries. John & I have talked about this a ton lately as we both struggle with high blood pressure, cholesterol, etc......genetics plays such a huge part of this stuff I can't believe it doesn't for overuse injuries as well..

Jim....it was 1984 in Santa Barbara....there was absolutely no alcohol involved and I was fully clothed....I think.... :groovy: enuf said! Charlie Brown is already getting himself worked up for Austin....I have to decide how badly I want to crush his fragile ego....he is after all seeing a cardiologist these days...oh wait...so am I! A wise man once said, 'tis better to see a cardiologist than a cardiothoracic surgeon'.

I have to believe that chronic injuries are some how rooted in genetic make up/predisposition. I was rarely injured in college/post college except when I was doing something stupid (jumping on a trampoline after a few to many beers)..... posted by The Evil Party Boy El Pescapo I see we're changing our story now about the alcohol involvment there Paul......(j/k only of course...or not!)...LOL!! And you may or may not have been clothed eh? Well it was 1984 and I have to admit that back in college I "may have" done a few little things here and there that were a little bit like the Jackass skits too...LOL!! I just say that it is all a "fog" in my memory now...LOL!! I hope you two aging Smiths can stay alive somehow long enough to provide us all with another great showdown in Austin!....You know Evil/GoodSmith willl be claiming home field advantage this time in Austin! Good Luck! Newmastersswimmer

I have to believe that chronic injuries are some how rooted in genetic make up/predisposition. I was rarely injured in college/post college except when I was doing something stupid (jumping on a trampoline after a few to many beers)..... And in fact the very things that may have at an early age helped may now be hurting....primarily hyper-flexibility which the docs tell me now has contributed in a big way to the overuse injuries I've had that led to 2 shoulder surgeries and two knee surgeries. John & I have talked about this a ton lately as we both struggle with high blood pressure, cholesterol, etc......genetics plays such a huge part of this stuff I can't believe it doesn't for overuse injuries as well.. Paul, you hit the nail right on the head! I am very flexible in all of my joints. I can't help but believe that it helped me when I was younger but makes it difficult now. My shoulder doctor that did my surgery used to call me "loosey goosey" (don't start Rich! :lolup: ) because ALL of my joints were loose. I have also had knee problems in the past - put a halt to my triathaloning/running days. I have to be ever vigilant in doing my rotator cuff exercises. If I'm not..my shoulder/neck/back lets me know! Gosh they ARE BORING and I'm so sick of them but....it beats the heck out of not swimming and being in pain! I've also found the same thing Donna has.....I HAVE to have a LOOONNNGG easy warm-up. If I get in and put the hammer down too soon, I hurt. I also have started taking a supplement called Joint Promotion. It seems to be helping! SO FAR,SO GOOD! :banana:

....I've also found the same thing Donna has.....I HAVE to have a LOOONNNGG easy warm-up. If I get in and put the hammer down too soon, I hurt. I think a long warm up is very important. Especially for sprint workouts. I will do 600-1200 yards of easy swimming and drills before beginning any fast swimming. And even then I build as the set progresses. As a result of doing this, even though I may be a little sore after, there has been no pain in my bad shoulder and even the middle of the night aching has almost completely disappeared.