If you’re living with chronic back pain you know how debilitating it can be. Back pain sufferers deal with pain when they sit, stand, bend over and even when they try to exercise. One of the twists is that — if you do move and exercise you will likely have less back pain BUT there are exercises that will make your back pain worse and you definitely don’t want to do that. If you have ever wondered how swimming helps with back pain, we have some ideas to offer and we bet your doctor would even give the thumbs up to a swimming pool workout.
Exercising out of the swimming pool puts stress and strain on your joints and an exercise like running is jarring to your back and spine and can make the pain worse. Running and biking and other out-of-pool exercises can also cause pain in your knees and other extremities. You certainly don’t want to sit around and not move at all because that is counterintuitive to helping ease pain. That is where a swimming pool workout comes in.
The swimming pool service contractors from SwimRight Pool Service & Repair in Scottsdale, Arizona know that keeping the pool clean and bacteria-free is a crucial part of the service they offer to those who want to be able to swim whenever they want to.
How swimming helps with back pain
Helping ease back pain starts with having a strong core. Swimming strengthens your core, helps work multiple muscle groups, strengthens your heart and lungs all while not putting stress or strain on your joints — it is a win all day long.
On another note, good posture, from having a strong core, can help alleviate back pain.
Here are a few exercises and ways to exercise and strengthen your core in the swimming pool.
- When you swim, make sure you concentrate on tightening your lower core — belly — muscles. Stretch tall and extend long when you swim strokes.
- Use a kickboard to swim from end to end. This will help strengthen and work your lower core muscles.
- Run from side to side in the shallow end.
- Do deep lunges in the shallow end.
- Talk with your doctor before you undertake any kind of workout.
- Swim smoothly and add to core stability by working on posture and strengthening your shoulders. To do this, focus on the muscles between your shoulder blades. Pull your shoulder blades together and back, bring them in toward your spine. This is an important swim exercise as it focuses on upper core strength.
If you don’t know why you should care about your posture, you should and here’s why.
- Better posture helps you swim straighter and helps with arm extensions.
- You expend less energy when swimming laps if you swim straight and have more arm strength which will keep you from “rolling” when you switch arms during strokes.
- Better posture gives you a more powerful swim stroke.
- When you have a strong upper body and strong inner core strength your arm strokes are more in tune with your body movement. This means you are using your whole body to propel yourself through the pool instead of just your arms and legs.
- Good posture will help ease back pain in and out of the swimming pool.
Ask us if you’re looking for workout tools to use in your pool. Also, give us a call and schedule swimming pool service to ensure your pool is always ready to be used when you’re ready to swim.
