I started to notice this last year. When ever I’m swimming in open water with my wet suit , my lower back gets so tight and sore that by the time I’m done I can’t wait to stand up on dry land. It appears to me, to be the position the wet suit puts my legs in the water and that possibly my back is arched more than it wants to be.
During a race, it’s very distracting. Wondering if anyone has any good stretching techniques or core strengthening stuff that has made a difference.
I do have a disc issue (bulging) between L4 and L5 that I developed training for LP and the disc space is very narrow in there which I’m sure doesn’t help.
This happens to me, too, espcially the harder I swim. I also have back problems–have had surgery for a hernaited disc–but it bothered me even before my back was an issue. I swam at LP last year without my wetsuit–I figured that the 2 minutes that I lost in the swim I would gain by not having to do as much low back stretchign during the day. I did a 8 mile open water swim without a wetsuit last year, too, but also got the low back tightness and I’m starting to think that while it might be the westuit that bothers my back, it’s also the long swimming without the break from flipturns that is part of it. I think that the flip turn motion of curling up into a ball for a second helps to stretch the low back.
BTW–I was more comfortable last year at LP without a wetsuit and I swam 2 minutes slower than I did at LP in 2001 with a wetsuit on.
Yes and yes… bulging disc and have experienced the same thing.
There was a bulging disck thread here a few days ago that I posted on, you should ck it out / search.
For the wetsuit thing, with back issues its going to be touchy as it is, now you’re throwing in extended periods where your legs are more elevated vs. the hundreds of hours that you usually swim… throw in a bulging disk and it compounds the issue.
I used to get out of lake wetsuit swims and need about 5 mins to get my back out of the cramp-like position it was just in for 45 mins or so.
I and others posted on the other thread re: bulging disk(s).
Yes, I’ve experience this. As others said, I think it’s from your legs being more buoyant and/or sighting. Either way it’s the arch that bugs me. Concentrate on keeping your core engaged and back in the proper alignment. Also, you should probably work on core strengthening–especially things like back lifts.
Oh yeah, another thing that helps: focus on keeping your head down to avoid the arch thing, and it also helps for a faster swim.
Someone also mentioned sighting when swimming… this could also compound the problem. Practice low level sighting. It seems like a lot of people “jump up” high in the water in order to see. It kills aerodynamics and wastes energy (as well as puts unneccesary torque on your back). Try a more streamlined sighting, watch some of the good swimmers out there, I’m sure John Kenney here has some tips.
Yeah, don’t get me wrong… it all sounded like a lot of crap to me and I’m the biggest “believe it when I see it” guy out there, but I figured it was worth the risk. I prob could have picked one up at Ebay for 2/3 the cost but wanted to be sure it was the real product.
Gentle traction every day and I’m seeing benefits in just over a week of use.
I’ll post every once in a while for disk sufferers.
I guess it’s wetsuit day on ST. One thing is to make sure you have the arms and legs of your suit hiked up ALL the way. That is, you don’t want any “pockets” in your arm pits or crotch. This will help with it tugging at your back. Also, try a higher end suit with more stretchy rubber in the lats/back/butt area. I think the back arching is just going to happen more in races because you typically need to sight more than in the pool. In the past I never used a kickboard for kicking sets but I’ve started using it more this year because it puts me in that arched back position. Don’t know that it helps my swimming at all but figure it can’t hurt to get more used to that position.
Slayer, the inversion bar has helped me deal with many injuries and also seems to help all my joints recover from long runs. I have not used it that much this year, although I have used it a lot in 2000-2004. I think I will actually head to the basement and use it today since I ran 2 hours this morning. Also, doing those inverted sit ups is great. I could only get up to 20 or so before all my core muscles would blow!
I watched those info-mercials pre-back probs and thought they were all a bunch of silly old farts. Well, add me to the list of silly old farts (even though I haven’t hit middle age yet).
I’ve got to tell you too: my little “compensating” support muscles even feel better, my left quad used to be sore most of the time due to compensating for the right side, now zero issues and I can run every other day now safely on trails with minimal (compared to a few months ago) issues.
For lazy stretchers like myself its a godsend so far: just lie there and the creature does it for you… of course you should still stretch (disclaimer).
The body’s natural position in the water is head/chest up and legs trailing downward. The feet always want to sink. Buoyancy is the issue. Using a pull buoy compensates for the leg sinking problem when doing pull sets.
A wetsuit can’t be tough to adjust to when you don’t have strong abdominal muscles/core muscles. Especially when you are lifting your head up sighting for the next buoy. I would find an exercise program that strengthens your core (Visit a PT, DC, MD, local gym, workout magazine, etc.). Furthermore, incorporate the Tarzan Drill–swimming with your head up looking ahead toward the wall–into your swimming workout as part of a drill set. Take it slow and expect 2-4 months for proper conditioning.
Ernest Maglischo’s book Swimming Fastest has additional recommendations.
I just have the inversion boots and a chinup bar. It works great. The inverted “Rockly Balboa situps” also kill the lower abs, hip flexors and the hamstrings (to some extent, all your upper leg running muscles).
Chiro, no reason why your relative body position with or without wetsuit should be different. You’ll just ride higher in the water with wetsuit, but the head vs torso vs hips vs feet position can be the same once someone has mastered good body position. Miles of swimming with “the band” with no pull buoy will take care of things.
I have good body postion in the water. ( I’ve been taped and viewed in an endless pool) so I don’t think that is the issue. It would be the same in a wetsuit too, right?
I can do countless pull sets in the pool with a pull buoy with no discomfort.
Core work… that went out the window as soon as my training increased late winter/early spring.
All good stuff that everyone has suggested so far to try and help, thanx
