I started getting pretty decent low back pain while swimming last summer. Wetsuit tends to make it onset faster and hurts more. I start out ok but about 15-20 min it starts in. The pain is low center of my back at waistline/just below. Like a knife in the back. Swam for 3 years with no issues and cant say any specific event started it.
When I get out it is painful to straighten up. I walk hunched over. I have to squat and basically stretch out the lower part. Biking is fine and actually fells better once I get going about 2-3 mi on the bike. Running no issue also.
I tried the pull you apart table for about 3 months (July-Sept) 2x week with no help. I went to another Dr and got an MRI. Results were -
Midline protrusion at l5 s1. Conjoined nerve root at l5 s1. Non lateral Bulge at l5 l4.
He did injections (Late Sept) and also hit the facets in the same area as he thought those could be the issue as well. Moderate help but didn’t last. Raced Oct. in wetsuit it hurt. Took a long break.
Started swimming again in Feb and the last two months have been getting the pain again.
Are you engaging your core at all times? Seems trivial, but there is so much going on in the head at times that one can forget the basics. Most of us need to consciously tense the transverse abdominals to maintain proper body position, but some folks just have awesome posture regardless and it comes naturally. When I feel my body position get funky towards the end of a workout I always double check my issue areas. Don’t tense the rectus abdominals, those are your crunch/6 pack muscles and don’t provide spinal stability. Look up ‘transverse abdominus’ and recognize where it is.
Especially if you are a pull buoy person this could be a huge culprit b/c that in essence gives your body the green light to be lazy and turn off the postural muscles. Double check your core b/c if you slouch in the water you will definitely open yourself up to back strain.
Sounds like you may need physical therapy. Swimming definitely arches the lumbar backwards and that puts pressure on the discs. Need to strenghthen the psoas muscle that lay in front of the spinal column. They balance the strong lumbar muscles that hyper extend the spinal column.
I have the EXACT same problem. I don’t think the bulging discs have anything to do with it. (I’ve had 3 herniations of L5S1 and 2 microdiscectomies since 2007). This lower back tightness started about 18 months ago is and getting worse every race. The wetsuit totally aggrevates me to the point that 20 minutes in, I can barely move. I can swim just fine without a wetsuit (did IMTX with very little tightness), and at this point, plan on non-wetsuit IM’s til I can figure it out. Even half IM swims are painful… I have Leadman half coming up too.
I do tons of core work, lower core work, TA stuff like the other poster is mentioning and have done for years, but it is not helping. I feel like the wetsuit hyper-extends my back and only getting on dry land and squatting it out, as you mentioned, helps.
I am wondering if my wetsuit is too small and pulling my back into an unnatural arch. Going to try to rent a larger size suit and see if that is the case.
I have the EXACT same problem. I don’t think the bulging discs have anything to do with it. (I’ve had 3 herniations of L5S1 and 2 microdiscectomies since 2007). This lower back tightness started about 18 months ago is and getting worse every race. The wetsuit totally aggrevates me to the point that 20 minutes in, I can barely move. I can swim just fine without a wetsuit (did IMTX with very little tightness), and at this point, plan on non-wetsuit IM’s til I can figure it out. Even half IM swims are painful… I have Leadman half coming up too.
I do tons of core work, lower core work, TA stuff like the other poster is mentioning and have done for years, but it is not helping. I feel like the wetsuit hyper-extends my back and only getting on dry land and squatting it out, as you mentioned, helps.
I am wondering if my wetsuit is too small and pulling my back into an unnatural arch. Going to try to rent a larger size suit and see if that is the case.
Geez man that is horrible sorry to hear about your back issues.
Just remember, doing the core work has nothing to do with making sure they are actively engaged during your swim. You can have the strongest muscles on the planet, but if you don’t use them they ain’t workin’! Meaning your TA’s can be strong like bull, but if you don’t make a conscious effort to activate them they are probably not doing what they need to be doing. It’s easy to feel them work when we are land based walking upright with 1G of gravity pulling on us…in the water it takes effort.
FWIW I didn’t dream this stuff up. One of my college pals from Auburn who swam the 1500 helped me overcome my back issues while swimming with this info…so it comes from a guy who knows his stuff! First thing he did was take my pull buoy away and made me fix my body position, best thing that could have ever happened to this 'ol fart.
I was thinking about this on the way home from swimming this a.m. (as the seat heat was keeping my back pain free) and I realized that I had not been doing planks, pilates in the build phases of this training cycle and am sure that is why I am running into this now.
You know I did pilates and yoga for years before my back went south. So I understand the structure pretty well. I know what you are saying about the “laziness” in the water. Pool / masters I definitely think about core tightening / position. Very easy for me to do.
The wetsuit is so much like a pull bouy for me. I do almost zero kicking. I probably am very lazy because it gives me the position without having to work the core to attain it.
Try a different wetsuit with less neoprene in the legs. I have this problem when I wear my Xterra full, but I don’t when I wear my old BlueSeventy (which is so old, it’s an Ironman brand). Same stroke, same body of water, low back pain with one, no low back pain with the other. I figure it’s got to be the amount of neoprene in the Xterra making my legs a tiny bit more buoyant, which puts a tiny bit more stress on my lower back, which, over the course of an hour-long swim, causes pain.
I’m stoopits. Yea just make sure you feel that TA ‘wake up’ and I think you will probably feel a world of difference. My back was just flat out keeping me from swimming for some time until that fix, but even knowing I still get lazy on long/hard days.
To tell the truth I dont know if I am engaging, so most likely I am not. I do no pull bouy as I thought it helped the issue. I will look it up and see. Any quick hints to know the feel while swimming I should be focused on? Thanks.
Are you engaging your core at all times? Seems trivial, but there is so much going on in the head at times that one can forget the basics. Most of us need to consciously tense the transverse abdominals to maintain proper body position, but some folks just have awesome posture regardless and it comes naturally. When I feel my body position get funky towards the end of a workout I always double check my issue areas. Don’t tense the rectus abdominals, those are your crunch/6 pack muscles and don’t provide spinal stability. Look up ‘transverse abdominus’ and recognize where it is.
Especially if you are a pull buoy person this could be a huge culprit b/c that in essence gives your body the green light to be lazy and turn off the postural muscles. Double check your core b/c if you slouch in the water you will definitely open yourself up to back strain.
As far as if the TA is activated? What he had me do was stand in front of a wall and reach up as far as I could like I was trying to grab something off a shelf just out of reach. Stretchinnnnng lonnnnnnng. NOT feeling like you are doing a crunch though b/c that is the rectus abdom which is the crunch move…no no.
If you are not supporting yourself with spinal stabilizers and then add a pull buoy to the equation it’s adding to the problem of back strain.
I was thinking about this on the way home from swimming this a.m. (as the seat heat was keeping my back pain free) and I realized that I had not been doing planks, pilates in the build phases of this training cycle and am sure that is why I am running into this now.
To the 2 ladies here, if you need me to get in the pool with you and hold your tummy while you swim in place I’d be willing to do that. I’m selfless like that and would take one for the team b/c I’m all about helping others…I really am.
To tell the truth I dont know if I am engaging, so most likely I am not. I do no pull bouy as I thought it helped the issue. I will look it up and see. Any quick hints to know the feel while swimming I should be focused on? Thanks.
Are you engaging your core at all times? Seems trivial, but there is so much going on in the head at times that one can forget the basics. Most of us need to consciously tense the transverse abdominals to maintain proper body position, but some folks just have awesome posture regardless and it comes naturally. When I feel my body position get funky towards the end of a workout I always double check my issue areas. Don’t tense the rectus abdominals, those are your crunch/6 pack muscles and don’t provide spinal stability. Look up ‘transverse abdominus’ and recognize where it is.
Especially if you are a pull buoy person this could be a huge culprit b/c that in essence gives your body the green light to be lazy and turn off the postural muscles. Double check your core b/c if you slouch in the water you will definitely open yourself up to back strain.
I was doing a lot of long swims training for a 10K this summer and was getting the same issue near the end of my swims. I started focusing on pulling my abs and hips upward, so i wasn’t so “sway back” and it seemed to help a lot.
I’ve had the same problem. You are mostly likely arching your back and tilting your hip forward. That can put your sacrum and hips out of tilt and engage your piriformis. The piriformis goes into spasm and engages the sciatic nerves which can create reference pains down your legs and up your back. A good PT can help release that spasm which will help tremendously. If the spasm gets bad enough it will start pulling your hip bones and sacrum and they can eventually get out of tilt and lock up. You can search for a bunch of exercises to strengthen and stretch that area and that should help.
It sounds like you are either talking about your races specifically, or open water swim sessions.
If you are experiencing this in the pool, try doing flip turns. A bend at the waist every 25yards/meters does wonders for my back. Keeps the back muscles loose and the spine doesn’t tighten up.
Now if you are referring to just long steady swims in open water, how about 5-10 strokes of backstroke every 1-2 minutes to keep the back loose and relaxed?
As for wetsuits, if the wetsuit is too short in the torso I can see that being a real problem. If so, get a new one. If not, make sure you are pulling the crotch up super high, like giving yourself a wedgie. Also have a helper pull extra material to the back from the stomach/chest so the wetsuit’s elasticity is trying to pull you forward and not backward.
And I will bet you are keeping your glutes flexed/tightened as you swim. Relax and shut them off.
I can’t quite see your swimming position from here, but my armchair diagnosis is excessive lumbar extension in prone with the pain coming from your facet joints. Try reducing the amount of flotation of your legs, especially below the knees.
It can be a matter of activating your core, so tilting your hips back like you do in pilates. This puts you in the right body position and can take the pressure off your lower back.
I have had low back pain for years stemming from an injury at work that likes to pop up whenever my training volume increases. My entire lumbar region is jacked to some degree, but that’s also reflective of the lumbar discs of most of the adult population. I was used to having my back “go out” every few months and I would just deal with it, but the last time it turned into sciatic pain that wouldn’t go away. Though swimming always helped me in the past, this time, swimming made it worse, and I could pin point the cause to arching my back in the water. During this time, even the normal Mckenzie stretches would aggravate the nerve.
I had to stop all forms of activity except for walking and I did epidural shots. My doctors theorized that my disc material had protruded far enough out that arching my back would push more material out and thus increase the pain. Only time or surgery would heal my body, and I chose time.
I had to take a light duty assignment at work for 5 months, but after about 2 months, I was able to to start riding in an upright position. Slowly, I could stretch my back with the McKenzie stretches, and then I was able to swim. I didn’t start running again until after I was back to biking and some swimming.
From reading your description, you have not given yourself enough time to heal. It doesn’t happen over night. My pains started in November, got worse in December and I was on light duty from January through May. Give your body time to heal.
Same boat as the OP. Did IMCDA in low back pain hell. Sleepless nights with back pain off/on from April through July. Have to pull the plug on IMAZ. After 4 months of Dr. and PT visits we pretty much have it narrowed down to some disc/sciatic issues along with facet joint inflammation. Swimming is mostly fine during, but the pain comes on towards the end and then really gets noticeable later in the day. TT bike out of the question at this time - can barely hold a “recreational” position on Road bike for now. Everyone is blaming weak TVA and I’ve been working on that for a good 3-4 weeks now. Have a whole cabinet of Rx’s but found Ibuprofen (hardly ever works for me) to be the best…Celebrex too. Heavy round of Ibuprofen (3 X 800mg/day + 1500mg of Tylenol for 14 days) kicked the crap out of the facet joint pain and some of the disc-related pain, but I’m still battling. Only good thing that’s happened from all of this is that I got two free bike fits (insurance paid) for both Road and TT bike from Dr. Max Testa. Had to wait for him to return from le tour but it has been worth it. Spent $3,400 to buy a new mattress (old one was 12 years old). This helped.
My advice is a hardcore round of NSAIDs to knock down the inflammation. Back off the workouts and make sure they’re insane easy during this period of taking the meds. Focus on the TVA but start crazy easy and build up. My back got super pissed off when I tried to advance myself on the TVA exercises too quickly. My other advice is assess on weekly basis only - “how do I feel this week compared to last?”…daily assessment will drive you nuts.
This likely could have been prevented…I stopped doing my Core routine (which involved specific TVA exercises) about 3-4 months before IMCDA training because I was simply too lazy or tired to do it.
