How can I prevent shoulder injuries?

Question

I swim anyywhere from 4-6 times a week and I specialize in butterfly. When i swim a lot, or do a lot of backstroke my shoulders really hurt.I have a friend who also swims who got tendenitis and has to have fluid removed from her shoulder every week... i don't want that to happen to me. I really just want to prevent injury in general. Are there any special exercises or stretches i can do to protect my shoulders?

Answer 1

Same area as you, swimming 5-8 times a week though (darn 2-a-days)

When you go for your regular lift session (Assuming you do so) you should do the following shouler exercises. Remember to use LIGHT WEIGHTS, probably 2 1/2 pounds to 4 pounds. And go SLOW!

1) Raise arms from resting at hips to a straight line at your sides, then back down. Keep your elbows locked and keep your thumbs pointing up.

2) same thing, but this time in front of you. Keep your elbows locked, keep your hands shoulder width apart.

3) This time raise your hands pointing at diagonals (before they were straight in front or to the side, now they are a mix, pointing to your periph. vision). Keep your thumbs DOWN for this one.

There's tons more exercises but simply too many to list. Ask your coach and i'm sure he can hand you a 20 page pamphlet of things to do.

Things to do if they hurt WHILE swimming: get out and find a full water bottle (or something else around 2-3 pounds)

Hunch over, while holding the object, and let the weight pull your arm and stretch your shoulder. Gently move your arm clockwise, letting gravity stretch out your shoulder. Do this for 30 seconds, then counter clockwise, then switch arms.

Answer 2

hey im an athletic trainer at my high school so maybe you want to talk to an athletic trainer at your school! but heres some helpful things to do. stretch and strengthen those shoulders!!!people who tend to overuse the shoulder and dont stretch properly before the activity tend to tear tendons and strain muscles and you dont want that to happen because it is very painful and may require surgery if severe.proper stretching can be lifting your arm into extension and bending the elbow so your hand is beind your head then you would pull the elbow down but not too far down!!only when you start to feel the stretching. and you may want to hold it for 10 seconds. do it to both arms. also you can stretch your arm out in front of your chest and push the elbow towards your chest and you would hold that for ten sconds or however long you will like to. also to strengthen the shoulders, you can do push ups. why push ups when your focusing on your shoulder? your biceps and triceps are connected to most of your shoulder muscles so if those biceps are strong, so is every muscle in your arm. one last thing is to sit up straight as much as possible!! when your sitting down and your back is hunched, its hard for it to stretch out when you need it too! so when your back muscles are strong, your shoulder muscles are strong too!! i know this is alot but if you stretch and strengthen everyday, you'll have nothing to worry about!!

Answer 3

This is very simple.

SHOULDER CIRCLES.

Do this every day to prevent shoulder injuries and to strengthen them; its a 2 for 1!:

1.  50 large circles to the front

2.  50 large circles backwards

3.  50 small circles frontwards

4.  50 small circles backwards

5.  50 times pushing back and front with your palms out

6.  50 times pushing back and front with your palms back

I do this every day and have been swimming for 8 years now and have never had shoulder problems!