How to Recover From Your Swimming Injuries

Man swimming with SUMARPO wetsuit and gears

 - Top Tips for Competitive Athletes.

Introduction

Triathletes practice in mostly heated pools and sometimes cold (even freezing) open water interchangeably. In the latter case, pulls and tears are likely if you fail to keep muscles warm and the body comfortable. Aside from this, the two most common injury instigators related to your training schedules are overtraining and insufficient rest between swims.

At this point, it's crucial to understand that recovery - combined with treating the injuries directly - is to stop lousy training habits by persisting with the three wrong things noted above. They can only increase the damage of identified injuries, making recovery next to impossible.

Keeping the body warm goes directly to the wetsuit you select, especially in icy water. Unfortunately, scuba diving suits, surfing, and kitesurfing suits are unsuitable for a competitive swimming athlete. Instead, I advise consulting with a company like Sumarpo for an organically structured neoprene wetsuit that meets swimming athletes' needs like a hand in a glove. It won't break the bank and solves the probability of increasing injury severity right out of the block.

 

Other injury causes and common diagnoses.

UPMC, a sports injury authority, points out that covering the above-mentioned injury influences is only part of the story. Notably, other inadequacies kick into the equation - things like faulty stroke mechanics, iffy breathing technique, restricted flexibility, and strength issues with:

● Your core

● Hip muscles

● Rotator cuffs and shoulder blades.

 

Remedying swimming sports injuries.

You know you have an injury when you experience:

● Sharp knee pain.

● Stabbing shoulder aches from inflammation and cartilage tears surrounding the socket.

● Rotator cuff muscle pressure felt with arm movements.

● Neck and lower back pain.

● Bicep tears and tendonitis.

The subject of injury recovery is more complicated than it looks. That's because all the threats to your swimming health overlap and connect in various ways. It boils down to the age-old adage, 'What comes first, the chicken or the egg?'

For example:

● The fewer physical weaknesses you have, the fewer the chances of overtraining.

● The right wetsuit promotes better flexibility and conserves strength, thus reducing the odds of over-using muscles and tendons.

● Observing straightforward warm-up exercises and stretching gives the right wetsuit a running start to ward off potential problems during the swim.

A standard error exacerbating minor injuries into chronic ones emerges from ignoring them - thinking they'll go away independently. They seldom do. Swimmers experiencing pain after a swim for more than two days or the same recurrence every time during a swim should seek medical attention. Don't let injuries get the better of you or fester under any circumstances.

 

Strength Training

I strongly advise entering a strength training and stretching program aligned with medical advice.

● Lifting weights and throwing your body around while still under injury can do more harm than good.

● In many cases, your physician will prescribe consulting a physiotherapist to ensure you get into exercise gradually and don't overdo things.

 

Of course, the recommended regimen below started before an injury enters the equation is the best cure. Also, numerous swimmers conduct themselves under the false impression that exercising creates harm or hampers performance by bulking one up too much. It's not true, as long as medical supervision and good form are in the mix from the start.

 

Swimming faster with fewer injuries.

The fact is that strength training will do that for you. How? By going to the crux of the matter, namely, muscle imbalances. Here are some of the best recommendations by medical experts. They develop resilience both in and out of the water:

● Dumbbell Bench Presses - Let the shoulders move more naturally. It also increases one's range of motion, thus relieving wrist, elbow, and shoulder muscle strain faster.

● Jump and front squats - Go straight to the leg muscles to help them glide through the water pain-free. These exercises are ideal for developing explosiveness at the start of any race and kick effectiveness.

● Pull-ups - Do wonders for strengthening the lats, forearms, arms, shoulders, and lats, thus releasing pressure on the injured muscles and tendons.

● Glute Bridges - These are perfect for rectifying lower body instabilities that manifest in the glute, hamstring, calf, and lower back injuries.

● Planks - Many injuries emerge from swimmers' backs not being straight enough in the water and holding that posture throughout the swim. With physio treatment to the injured parts, planks strengthen the core and glutes to attack the cause while the remedy progresses.

● Reverse Fly - Another one that bolsters posture and stroke power simultaneously, using resistance bands or dumbbells - your choice.

● Chopping Wood - Assists in strengthening the core and obliques by simulating the twisting and rotations that integrate every swim.

● Kneeling Superman - Comes into an exercise program when the diagnosis finds that one side of the body is weaker than the other (a severe imbalance that generates many injuries.) In this section, use weights or apply the movements without them. The body parts that respond quickest are all the limbs, abs, and your back.

● Medicine Ball Lunge with Rotation - Cover many body areas that coincide with medical treatment. It strengthens the quads, glutes, and core - getting the physique back in balance and establishing vastly improved lower body flexibility and spatial awareness. It emphasizes the common-sense notion that cardio and strength training go hand in hand to develop maximum performance.

 

Another thing, pull buoys or paddles are great for building gradual resistance while swimming.

 

Addressing Swimming Injuries with better Stroke Mechanics

After identifying a triathlon injury, I advise that you gradually escalate swimming intensity and durations to new limits, always staying in front of overtraining as a disruption. No matter how fit you are, make sure you rest between competitions and training sessions. As a freestyler (the most common stroke in these contests), make sure:

● A training partner or coach checks that your neck aligns with your body when breathing.

● You don't experience numbness or tingling in the arms. If you do, consult a physician right away.

● You rotate your body toward the breathing side. A slight neck movement is all you need (versus a twist), and don't over-reach with your strokes. Indeed, it may help to breathe to both sides while recovering from a neck injury to avoid over-straining it.

 

Conclusion

Sumarpo is at the cutting edge of providing the best equipment to avoid and remedy swimming injuries alongside medical advice. Triathletes won't find a better resource anywhere. Sumarpo's mission and vision are to meet the most prominent triathlon needs, thus consolidating a memorable customer experience injury-free.