Swimming is an ideal exercise to work your back. If you suffer from back pain, you may find that being buoyant in water helps your back relax, making many exercises easier to do. Make sure, however, that you carefully monitor your back while engaging in exercises in the water. Don't overextend. In addition, make sure you have appropriate safety equipment, such as a flotation belt, before attempting some of these exercises.
Walking in Water
One of the simplest back exercises is walking around the pool. This exercise allows you to engage in the normal biomechanics of walking without any pain. If walking has been painful, enter the pool cautiously and make sure you are not swimming alone. Float for a few minutes to allow your spine to relax. Walk at the shallow end of the pool, advancing to chest-deep water if you're not buoyant enough in the shallow end. If you find it difficult to walk in chest-deep water, add a flotation belt and head to the deep end of the pool. The more of your body that is in the water, the more buoyant you are and the less stress you experience in your back.
Walking in the pool not only allows you to practice walking as you would on dry land, it also strengthens your lower back and core muscles, which can aid in keeping your back healthy in the long term.
Swimming Basic Strokes
Swimming strokes, such as freestyle (also known as the front crawl), backstroke, butterfly and breast stroke all use the back muscles extensively. The latissimus dorsi (the muscles that run on either side or your mid-back) and the deltoids (the muscles that run just beneath your shoulder muscles and your shoulders) are engaged when swimming. Start with getting some basic stroke technique to ensure that you're not twisting your neck too much to breathe when swimming freestyle. Remember to pace yourself, as swimming is not only a back strengthening activity, it's also a cardiovascular workout. Start slowly and build as your endurance increases.
No Kick, Just Pull
Pull paddles and a pull buoy aid in more advanced exercises for the back when swimming. The goal is to remove kicking motion from your freestyle laps. This will fully engage your latissimus dorsi, shoulders and posterior deltoid as you'll be using only your upper body to propel you through the water.
Hold the pull buoy either between your knees or between your upper thighs; experiment to find which position is most comfortable. Put your hands through your pull paddles and begin swimming. You'll find your body rotates fully when breathing even more than with regular laps; this is normal. Don't fight it or you can hurt your spine. Instead, use it to avoid over-rotating your head to breathe and hurting your neck.
Member Comments