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2015-02-04 11:19 AM

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Subject: Sore/Injured Shoulders
How many of you have sore/injured shoulders from swimming?

I'm using it as a rhetorical question and have a feeling there are many hands in the air. I bring it up because yesterday at Masters, we had a couple swimmers who didn't do the stroke segments because they have sore shoulders and the ole we are triathletes so we only swim freestyle excuse.

When I did a few Ironmans more than a few years ago, I also had shoulder issues and needed a cortisone shot. I didn't do a lot of other strokes using the same excuses. Now I have to wonder if all those miles spent on the aerobars were more the culprit than swimming? When I think about every bump and vibration in the road being sent through my shoulders it makes me wonder.

Don't get me wrong, I know of swimmers that have shoulder issues and have a friend that needed shoulder surgery. The ones I know personally also swim significantly more and with much more intensity than the average triathlete who is just trying to get through the swim portion....and has sore shoulders.

Just a thought.



2015-02-04 11:50 AM
in reply to: tamason

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Subject: RE: Sore/Injured Shoulders
If your stroke is wrong it's easy to get a sore shoulder.

Your sore shoulder is more likely from swimming or something else you did rather than being in aerobars on the bike.
2015-02-04 5:27 PM
in reply to: tamason

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Subject: RE: Sore/Injured Shoulders
Hmmm. Interesting thought. I have been doing some new strength training, which includes some shoulder movements, specifically lat pull-down. and seated rowing. Combined with continuous swim training (all free-style), I have also noticed some shoulder soreness, especially when trying to maintain good aero form. But my thinking is the soreness is from the strength training and/or swimming, and just aggravated by the aero position, not caused by it.

Just like running on tired legs makes them more susceptible to injury, I suppose riding aero on tired shoulders is much the same. Especially the jarring like you mentioned.

But I ain't no exercise physiologist, so think whatcha want.
2015-02-04 6:04 PM
in reply to: NewDiz

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Subject: RE: Sore/Injured Shoulders
I have an extensive weight training background personally & as a trainer, and never a real shoulder injury. 40 y.o. - The more swimming I do (in addition to my weight training - I still do significant amount to keep the size & weight I prefer) - the more tired my shoulders get. I reduced the amount of specific shoulder work, but lately I have been dealing with inflammation in the shoulder from basically overuse. Rotational mechanics of the shoulder are aggravating to the capsule. Folks neglect doing rotator cuff work & stretching to maintain strength and flexibility there. In aero, there really isn't any rotational ROM or much ROM in the shoulder capsule for that matter at all. If anything, there is stabilization and only likely to aggravate a condition not cause it
2015-02-05 11:00 PM
in reply to: tamason

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Subject: RE: Sore/Injured Shoulders
Originally posted by tamason

How many of you have sore/injured shoulders from swimming?

I'm using it as a rhetorical question and have a feeling there are many hands in the air. I bring it up because yesterday at Masters, we had a couple swimmers who didn't do the stroke segments because they have sore shoulders and the ole we are triathletes so we only swim freestyle excuse.

When I did a few Ironmans more than a few years ago, I also had shoulder issues and needed a cortisone shot. I didn't do a lot of other strokes using the same excuses. Now I have to wonder if all those miles spent on the aerobars were more the culprit than swimming? When I think about every bump and vibration in the road being sent through my shoulders it makes me wonder.

Don't get me wrong, I know of swimmers that have shoulder issues and have a friend that needed shoulder surgery. The ones I know personally also swim significantly more and with much more intensity than the average triathlete who is just trying to get through the swim portion....and has sore shoulders.

Just a thought.




It's super easy to get sore shoulders from poor swimming mechanics. Aerobars, if narrow, can also cause impingemnet symptoms, but usually not as an isolated cause.

Have a PT or knowledgble mvoement specialist check your flexibility & posture & have your siwm stroke analyzed, especially underwater.
2015-02-06 6:28 AM
in reply to: tamason

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Subject: RE: Sore/Injured Shoulders
Very rarely had sore shoulders and never had anything that amounted to an injury. I swam competitively as a kid and teen and did a lot of yardage, up to 10,000 a day, but don't recall any specific area being sore, just general tiredness after a long day of training and school. Although my specialty was distance freestyle, we did swim a variety of strokes in practice and I did quite a bit of butterfly as I swam it on the relay and sometimes the 100 or 200 fly in meets. As a triathlete I still do about 20-25% of my workout in strokes other than freestyle, and try to get in at least one set of stroke or medley swimming in every workout. I've had a couple of different masters coaches and really locked horns with one over wanting to swim something other than the endless distance free sets he gave me. He said that he would "Never ask anyone over age 40 to swim butterfly." (?!) The other, whose background was coaching high-level kids' teams, was fine with me doing a variety of sets. My current coach (when at home) is a triathlete with a competitive swim background, so I don't have this issue with her workouts. Usually there is some non-free work, at times optional, in every practice, and one day a week is a stroke focus where I do a lot of fly and/or medley. Many of the triathletes skip that one; I don't.

If you can do at least one other stroke with decent technique, I find it really helps prevent boredom, fatigue, sloppy form, and overuse type injuries to break up some of those endless triathlon type workous (6x500, 20 x 100 and the like) with a set of other strokes. The only time in the past few years I can recall having sore shoulders was after tearing down a garden shed, and after a 3000m time trial, Just too much of one motion over and over again.

Maybe the sore shoulders are actually from NOT doing other strokes, (plus probably some technique issues) rather than a reason not to do them?


2015-02-06 8:32 AM
in reply to: Hot Runner

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Subject: RE: Sore/Injured Shoulders
I can't say about the aero bars being a contributing factor because I don't use them. I find that occasionally I get a sore shoulder when swimming but this is almost always caused by incorrect form, either over reaching or crossing over with my hand entry. Fix those two things and it goes away. I swam a lot as a kid and never had an issue with my shoulders, but I did a lot of Fly and Breaststroke as they were the strokes I was on the team for.
2015-02-07 8:41 AM
in reply to: tamason

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Subject: RE: Sore/Injured Shoulders
Not since I stopped swimming 12000 metres / day
2015-02-09 12:56 AM
in reply to: simpsonbo

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Subject: RE: Sore/Injured Shoulders
Might want to try exercises to balance the muscles to help.
2015-02-09 2:58 AM
in reply to: tamason

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Subject: RE: Sore/Injured Shoulders
After a long time out of the pool, I was really struggling with sore shoulders after a long swim. One thing that really helped was to build in some backstroke after a long our tough frontcrawl session.

This is purely anecdotal but it really seemed to work for me.
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