Looking after your neck and shoulders in the pool
Dr Nicola Tik
There is a lot to love about swimming. It is low impact, it works your whole body, and a steady session can feel like a reset after a long day at your desk. But if your neck feels stiff after a few lengths, or your shoulder starts to niggle, a few changes to how you breathe and hold your head can help.
Every stroke asks your shoulder to rotate, reach and pull, often hundreds of times in a single session. Your neck turns to breathe or lifts to look forward, again and again. Small habits in how you do this add up over a swim.
Shoulder discomfort is very common in swimming. Studies of regular swimmers suggest that somewhere between a third and three quarters notice it at some point. Front crawl and butterfly are the strokes most often linked with shoulder problems, while breaststroke and backstroke are less so. The good news is that much of this comes down to technique and balance, which you can work on.
If you always breathe to the same side in front crawl, one side of your neck and shoulder does more of the turning and reaching. Some researchers have noticed that swimmers who develop shoulder pain often feel it on the side they breathe to.
Breathing to both sides, for example every three strokes, shares the work more evenly. It can feel awkward at first, so you could start by alternating sides every few lengths, then build up to breathing every third stroke as it starts to feel more natural.
It also helps to turn your head only as far as you need to catch a breath. Rolling your whole body slightly as you turn means your neck does less twisting on its own.
In breaststroke, many people keep their head lifted out of the water the whole time, especially if they like to keep their hair dry or see where they are going. This holds the neck in a tipped-back position for the whole swim, which can leave it feeling stiff and tight afterwards.
Something to try is letting your face go into the water as your arms reach forward, then lifting your head just enough to breathe as you pull. If you prefer to keep your face out of the water, taking regular breaks or mixing in some lengths of backstroke can give your neck a rest.
Kickboards are great for working your legs, but holding one out in front with your head up puts the same strain on your neck. If you notice this, you could try holding the board with your arms straight and resting your face in the water between breaths. Another option is kicking on your back, holding the board on your chest, which keeps your neck in a more relaxed position.
Swimming strengthens the muscles that pull your arms through the water much more than the smaller muscles at the back of your shoulder that keep it steady. Building these up out of the pool helps keep things balanced. In one study of experienced adult swimmers, those who did strength training alongside their swimming had fewer shoulder problems.
Something to try, two or three times a week:
If you would like to follow along, VIDA has a short video of worktop press-ups you can use as part of your routine.
Like any activity, your shoulders adapt best when you build up gradually. If you are increasing your distance, adding a few lengths at a time and mixing your strokes helps spread the load across different muscles.