I have been swimming for 50 years and have had 3 swim injuries. I know of some great, great swimmers who have been doing the same and remain untouched. How do they do this? If it is because their greatness is due to technique, they sure need to share. But I also wonder if it is because they swim smart, train smart, know their limitations and train accordingly. Do they listen to their bodies first and train second? Something many people don't do, me included in the past.
I've watched Laura Val (The Machine) and heard of Susan Heim Brown. I am amazed.
Is it also stroke related?. I know I swam only backstroke for 40 years and voila, 1993 rotator cuff surgery; 1995 impingement surgery; 1996 torn SI joint (sigh). And I learned technique very early on by world class coaches and swimmers; we did all the right things and were doing hip rotation back in the 60s before a lot of swimming folks were doing it.
Any thoughts on how this comes to be for some and not others?
Donna
Former Member
I think a long warm up is very important. Especially for sprint workouts.
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I am not so sure about that. If a person has loose joints, in this case the glenohumeral, extended periods of use will fatigue the cuff muscles which are supposed to keep things in alignment. Placing maximum load on this joint after the stabilizer muscles have been fatigued does not sound ideal to me. I keep my warmups as brief as possible. 9 times out of 10 I will swim about 500 yards before I begin anything paced or apply any real "effort" to my swimming, but never more than 700. From what I know about shoulder problems, most often the pain is caused by impingement of muscle or tendon. I think the best way to avoid this is with technique and avoidance of overuse which creates swelling/edema and impingement.
Anyhow, everybody is different and you should do what works best for you. I was just sharing the logic that I apply to my swimming.
I seem to recall having a heated debate about people swimming 1500 yard warmups around here a few years ago. I think Kirk was one of the long warmup gurus.
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
I seem to recall having a heated debate about people swimming 1500 yard warmups around here a few years ago. I think Kirk was one of the long warmup gurus. posted by SCYFreestyler
Matt you have to keep in mind that Engineers like Kirk usually don't know what they are talking about o.k. (just j/k now Kirk....or am I?...LOL!!)
Newmastersswimmer :banana: :banana:
How about party boy?
Best JackAss skit of them all. LOL
Well I'm as about flexible as a lump of iron (swim fly like it too) so I guess I'll be all set barring my dodgy back, which swimming has kept from going totally wonky on me.
My shoulder doctor that did my surgery used to call me "loosey goosey" (don't start Rich! :lolup: )
Well now...why do I continually get singled out? Would I ever say anything inappropriate to you Beth?
*gigglesnort*
This is a swimming forum. That's all I have ... I will go for my run shortly ...
after I digest lunch and that luna bar I munched earlier on the way home from weights.
You said previously you liked bananas so:
:banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:
You people are just a hoot!!! You should all be comedians, not swimmers!!!
How about this question/theory: I have read in lots of different places recently that the better condition one is in, the longer the warmup should be.
Now, I am not a person who reads something and gets it in my mind that it is written in stone, but since I started training 5 weeks ago and the better condition I get in, I don't feel quite right in starting a main set until a long warmup. Or, might this be just how my body reacts, or is it because I am 59 and not 29?
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
When I was an LSD runner and marathon training it did indeed take longer and longer to get in the groove. Sometimes upwards of 5 or 6 miles before I felt like I was moving ... it seemed worse on long runs, probably because I started out easier ... But I noticed this in running ... in swimming, not as much unless I'm really tight or sore and then I need a longer warm-up. Our practices are usually arranged so that we have our warm-up, then an easy set/extension of warm-up, our main set, then the fastest set ... so we take our time warming up usually anyway ...
Okay, off to bed I go ...
