Damage Control: Shoulder Strengthening Exercises For Injury Prevention!
Photo Credit: Helen Cogan Photography
Injuries and injury prevention are both huge aspects of sports and more specifically endurance sports. Today I am going to be speaking mainly about shoulder injuries but the main points can be applied to the swim and bike as well. If you don’t feel like reading, scroll down to the video to see the shoulder injury prevention routine that I do. At some point in your career, you will probably have to deal with an injury in some form or another. You may be out for a few days, a few months or even worse it may be career ending.
The athletes who tend to succeed are the ones who are great at injury management and prevention. The athletes who seem to never get hurt aren’t just lucky. They work incredibly hard on it by doing the very necessary but tedious training outside of their main disciplines that most don’t want to do. They are using the bands, doing working on their internal and external rotation or are on uneven surfaces working on balance. This isn’t the type of strength training that you are necessarily going to look better or that will make you significantly faster. This training is far more important. This is the work that keeps you going ensuring a long career in swimming or triathlon. This type of training isn’t fun and it is done in and out of season. No matter how tired or sore they feel, they find a way to get these types of maintenance and injury prevention sessions in!
If you have not been using this quarantine time wisely, then I recommend you start now. This is the perfect time to start working on your shoulder strength to prevent future shoulder injuries. You will be a pain free swimmer as a result and maybe even a bit faster without even having touched water. It isn’t like you have anything better going on!
You may have no idea where to start. Don’t worry! Below you can find a video of the shoulder injury prevention routine that I do 3-4 times per week. This is what I personally do. I am not recommending that you do these specific exercises. I am merely giving you an example of what a session would look like. If you think my routine would be helpful, then I would urge you to speak with a medical professional just like you would any other form of activity to make sure it is safe for you to do.
Watch the full video to learn some great exercises to improve your shoulder strength and stability for swimming!
Sometimes injuries happen from a trauma, bad technique, over use and a myriad of other reasons. In swimming, it will usually be the shoulders that start to give you trouble. I know that has been my experience along with many of my athletes and triathlete and swimmer friends. I also know that I personally will not keep up with a routine that takes 30-60 minutes. I want something effective but also around 10-15 minutes long so that I have no excuse to not get it done.
The routine only requires some resistance bands and a place to anchor them. I mainly follow the Crossover Symmetry system with a few variations to help with shoulder stability. Again, this is what I do and have done for the past few years. I have found success with it but that doesn’t mean you will too. You should do your own research and speak to your medical professionals to help you develop a routine that you can do to help avoid future injuries ensuring a long career in swimming and triathlon. Start doing it now while you have the time…don’t wait!
I hope you found this helpful. If there are videos or exercises that you have found helpful, please send them to me via our social media channels or add them to the comments here or on my YouTube video!