If you watched the U.S. Swimming Olympic Team Trials recently you've seen some amazing swimming by both veteran swimmers and lots of new up-and-coming swimmers. If you're like me, you also noticed some terrible postures. Here are some of the main questions people have about swimmer's postures:
- Why do swimmer's tend to have the same type of posture?
- What causes these posture imbalances?
- Doesn't this posture help them swim faster?
- What can swimmers do to improve their posture?
 Good standing posture means the ability to support a natural s-curved spine and upright torso over strong and stable hips. Standing on both feet/legs evenly is a sign of good posture. |
Here is a picture of some of the best US swim team members. Notice Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Katie Ledecky, and Missy Franklin's standing posture compared to good postural alignment. They are showing classic swimmers posture: head forward, thoracic flexion, shoulders forward, flat lumbar spine, hips forward, externally rotated femurs, everted feet, and slight posterior pelvic tilt. Swimmers often stand with one foot elevated, one or both hands on their hips, or their arms crossed.
Swimming develops strong muscles of the chest, back, arms, and shoulders but not the deep postural muscles of the hips and torso. Because swimmers don't support their body weight against gravity while swimming the postural muscles and stability muscles get weaker over time.
Swimming develops strong muscles of the chest, back, arms, and shoulders but not the deep postural muscles of the hips and torso. Because swimmers don't support their body weight against gravity while swimming the postural muscles and stability muscles get weaker over time.
This lack of hip and posture muscle strength and function can be seen when swimmers bend over and sit. People with good posture and function will be able to maintain an s-curve to their spines when they bend forward and the bending movement will come from the hips. Katie Ledecky (here and here), Michael Phelps (here, here, here, and here), and Cate Campbell (here) are not bending from the hips and maintaining an s-curved spine, but rather rounding (flexing) their backs to bend forward.
People often ask: doesn't this posture help them swim faster? No. It is well known in good coaching and training circles that excessive thoracic flexion weak hips will increase drag slowing the swimmer down. Weak hips means a slower start out of the blocks or off the wall, less explosive turn, and weaker kicks. Thoracic flexion causes increased drag in the water and the forward head and shoulder posture that often goes along with the thoracic flexion also increases drag and lowers lung capacity.
The classic swimmer's posture of thoracic flexion, rounded shoulders, and forward head are the main cause of swimmer's shoulder and the associated rotator cuff injuries, tendonitis, and degeneration. The better a swimmer's thoracic posture, shoulder position, scapular position, and head position is, the less likely they will get swimmer's shoulder.
The classic swimmer's posture of thoracic flexion, rounded shoulders, and forward head are the main cause of swimmer's shoulder and the associated rotator cuff injuries, tendonitis, and degeneration. The better a swimmer's thoracic posture, shoulder position, scapular position, and head position is, the less likely they will get swimmer's shoulder.
 All the tissues surrounding the shoulder joint including the biceps tendon and rotator cuff tendons are susceptible to injury in people with poor posture. |  The ligaments that help stabilize the shoulder joint are also prone to injury in people with poor posture. |
Being competitive swimmer doesn't mean you have to settle for poor posture and injuries. Doing postural alignment therapy to correct your posture and spending lots of time out of the water doing exercises to build hip and back strength will greatly improve your posture and decrease the chance of injury. Things like bench step-ups, squats and squat jumps, running (especially hill sprinting), bear crawls, full sit-ups, deadlifts, and playing other sports like basketball and soccer will help strengthen the important postural muscles of the hip and spine.
 Bear crawls are excellent for building postural strength and balance in the body. Doing them on an elevated and rounded surface as shown increases the demand. |  Deadlifts when done with good form are very good at strengthening hip and back muscles. Maintaining spinal extension is key to good form (do it like the woman in blue, not the guy in yellow). |
In summary:
- Why do swimmer's tend to have the same type of posture? Swimmers spend a lot of time swimming and little time doing other workouts. This creates muscle imbalances and a swimmer's classic poor posture.
- What causes these posture imbalances? Swimming develops the muscles of the chest, back, shoulders, and arms without developing the deep posture and stability muscles of the pelvis, hips, and spine.
- Doesn't this posture help them swim faster? No. This posture makes swimmers slower and increases their chance of injury.
- What can swimmers do to improve their posture? Get out of the pool, work on specific posture exercises to correct imbalances, and spend more time running, jumping, and building hip and spine strength.
RSS Feed