How to Start Swimming

A short guide to the do’s and don’ts of picking up swimming when you’re not as spry as you used to be.

Swimming can be one of the best, full-body workouts to add to your routine. Just a couple laps of freestyle can get your chest, back, arm and leg muscles firing on all cylinders. If you’re a runner/biker suffering from some leg pain (like me), swimming can be a great way to keep your cardio tiptop while not stressing your injured wheels. It can, however, put a LOT of pressure on your shoulder so its important to make sure you’re prepared before diving in (ha!).

Its not uncommon for swimmers to experience shoulder pain from either rotator cuff impingement or bicep tendinitis, but you can dodge it by following these steps:

Do your shoulders move like they’re supposed to? For a lot of people, the most movement their shoulders will achieve in a day is when they wash their hair or reach for something high on a shelf…and thats just not going to cut it if you want to stroke like a fish. Swimming involves moving your shoulder through a complete range of motion WITH resistance each step of the way.

But don’t despair! Great shoulder ROM is not only for short people with tall shelves! With a little bit of daily work you can test and improve how your shoulders move.

For each of these, do two rotations in each direction daily (5–10 minutes) and your shoulders will be feeling buttery smooth in no time!

Almost, but not quite, Dom. We’re not talking about the bicep-popping lifts that drive the ladies crazy, these exercises I’m about to show you are pretty much as un-cool as it gets. But in the wise words of this guy I saw on instagram:

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Rotator cuff exercises are about strengthening really small muscles that will help stabilize your shoulder while its stretching to the max during your freestyle. Additionally its important to throw some light weight back exercises in the mix as those muscles play a big role in your stroke.

Do the following three times a week and you’ll be on your way to a more secure shoulder:

Some people, like Michael Phelps or Dolphins, can hop in the pool and just start swimming away. Others, like myself, need an adequate warmup.

I know, I know, “when is he going to get to the stuff I actually want to hear about?” Not in this piece unfortunately. If you’re just starting your aquatic journey, warming up is vitally important to preventing injuries. And I recommend you do this warm up out of the pool.

The goal is to get the shoulders and back nice and toasty before you hop in the water. You don’t need to break a sweat, but you should be close. Here are some things I’ll do before my swim workout:

I have always had a problem with overtraining. I have a tendency to get a little too excited when I’m healthy and go way too ham in the pool. Please take it from me that this path leads to despair every time. Be patient, build slowly and deliberately, listen to your body and beware the rule of 2's.

Don’t be that guy or girl! If the only pool you can remember is your inflatable backyard one, start with some light and short workouts with plenty of rest in between. If you benched heavy yesterday, don’t swim today. If you feel pain while you’re swimming and its not going away, STOP RIGHT NOW.

Ramping up to swimming should be approached the same way as ramping up to running: track how far you go or how much you do and slowly increase that amount week by week. Please. Start. Slow. As someone in their mid-twenties that has already accumulated way too many overuse injuries, take it from me that they are not fun. A little patience now will go a long way towards your health.

You’re ready to hop in the pool and get cracking! I hope you find this helpful and safely incorporate swimming into your workout regimen. If you have other strategies for preventing swim injuries, share them! I love hearing about new ways to keep me in the pool.

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