Having stumped my local Masters’ coach, I am turning to all y’all at ST for your thoughts. As my subject line says, I am experiencing low back pain while swimming. I’ll try to provide enough details that hopefully will lead to at least some ideas of what I am doing wrong. And yes, my guess is that I’m doing something wrong in regards to my form, but maybe I’m just defective (okay, no comments on that please
I have only been training in the pool for six months. Prior to that, I have frolicked in the ocean for years and years, but swimming laps to build distance is a new activity in my life.
The pain seems to begin after I have passed the 1,200 yards regardless of whether those are accumulated through several short sets or one long, continual swim effort.
I am a slow swimmer… time for my recent (and thus far only) sprint tri swim (750 m) was just at 18 minutes (without a wetsuit). My average speed for 50 yards (easy stroke, not pushing time, but when focusing on distance) is 1 min 5 sec.
The coach at the Y where I swim says my stroke is smooth, fluid and graceful, but he only observes from the surface… and I’m not unconvinced that he isn’t just saying that to bolster my confidence.
When swimming, I breath on my right side (yes, I’m working on learning to breath on the left as well). I definately have a stronger pull with my right arm. To compensate on the left side, I kick more when pulling with my left side. Actually, I breath and pull right side, kick and pull left side. I try to be very aware of rolling with my pull and rotating my body properly. Occasionally, I over rotate and that throws my legs off kilter.
I do keep my feet at the surface and even when kicking, keep leg use to a minimum (trying to remember that I need my legs to bike and run).
I have yet to master the flip turn, so at the end of each length, I simply touch the wall with my hand, turn as my legs approach the wall and then shove back off with my legs to return. I have noticed that the higher up the wall my feet land, the stronger the pain.
The pain is most noticeable when turning and when I have stopped swimming. Toward the end of a really long set (which for me is currently 2,500 yards, the pain is pretty continual while on the move… not excrutiating, but definately present.
My right leg appears to be slightly shorter than my left, but I’m not unconvinced that the shortness isn’t a result of something in the right hip/lower back region. That area is generally tighter than the same area on my left side.
Enough details? And no, I don’t have any pics to post… sorry. Any thoughts? Is it a form issue? Technique issue? Physical defect isssue? Wimpy issue? I am really loving the swimming and want to continue to increase both my speed (and as slow as I am there is plenty of room for that!) and my long distances. I’m excited to about the water finally being warm enough to start doing one or two ocean swims each week.
do you have any low back pain in any situations (training, sitting, lifting, anything in life) that are not swimming?
the way you describe what is happening (especially your discomfort in flipturns) makes me suspect that perhaps you have the beginning of a lumbar disc problem.
To answer your questions (and here I thought I’d covered all the details), yes, I do have low back pain in other situations. But I also have upper back pain, shoulder pain, neck pain, knee pain, leg pain, you get the idea I tend to push myself a bit too much sometimes and yes, I ache (I know when storms are coming). Are there underlying reasons for some of it, especially as relates to my back, yes. In a previous life (range of 15 to 20 years ago) I trained horses… took some falls, went through a few fences, was trampled a couple of times, etc. Following that, I fell while bouldering, causing a compression fracture of one of the vertebrate between my shoulder blades (don’t remember specifically which one).
So yes, my back does bother me from time to time, but this pain while swimming is the only consistent, repetitive back pain that I experience. I’m really hoping it doesn’t relate to a previous injury, rather that it is a matter of technique. Can you give me a better answer than the first?
I’ve got a similar problem that traces back to me screwing my back up while throwing shot put in college. Things that might help:
totally avoid kickboards, keep butterfly and breaststroke to a minimum
Work on strengthing your ab muscles in that region. It helps to keep your lower torso more stable overall
Keep track of how much you’re flexing that part of your spine to get your hips up in the water. If you’re really having to bend your back, try slouching in the water more, and dropping your head in the water to get your hips up a little more instead (I’m normally not in favor of using head to control hips, but if it keeps the pain away, it’s worth a try)
Thanks Jill! The first is easy, I only swim freestyle. For the second, I’ve just started focusing more on abs/core work. In addition, I have found that if I practice yoga a few times a week, that helps as well. So, I need to make all of that more of a focus in my training. The third, I think, may be the key. When I thought about it, I think I do arch my back a lot to help keep my feet up.
A seat mate on a plane recently was talking with me about swimming. He described a style where he focuses on pushing down with his chest, which brings his head deeper into the water. Would this be what I would want to do, or do I just need to simply try to bring just my head lower? I guess the question is, bring just me head deeper or my entire upper body?
There is a weird little knack to pushing down your chest without rolling your shoulders into an odd position. It works for some people, but I lack the coordination to pull it off.
I send FLA Jill’s recommendation of avoiding the kick board. For me that has to do with arching my back into an uncomfortable position. I think this is what others are hinting at when wondering if you look down. Generally, looking up towards the front too much also makes your back arch.
Have you considered a chiropractor? I went a couple of times and my pain is gone. I can even use the kickboard again (if I want).
