Oregon Exercise Therapy
SCHEDULE YOUR FREE POSTURE EVALUATION!
  • Free Posture Evaluation
  • How It Works
    • Therapy Options >
      • Zoom/Skype/FaceTime Exercise Therapy
    • FAQ
    • OET News Archive
  • Advanced Training for Therapists
    • Education Workshops
  • Testimonials
  • About Matt
    • Contact Me
    • Recommended Products >
      • Therapy Equipment
      • Books and DVDs
      • Shoes
      • Apparel
      • Exercise Equipment
      • Cool Stuff
  • Blog

Swimmer's Posture

7/12/2016

7 Comments

 
Picture
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:
  1. Why do swimmer's tend to have the same type of posture?
  2. What causes these posture imbalances?
  3. Doesn't this posture help them swim faster?
  4. What can swimmers do to improve their posture?
Take a look at Michael Phelps standing posture here and here and here and you'll quickly see how his load joints do not align vertically. He presents with excessive thoracic flexion, rounded shoulders, forward head posture, everted feet, and swayback posture. 
Picture
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.
Ryan Lockte another top swimmer also shows the classic swimmers posture here and here and here. Ryan shows thoracic flexion, rounded shoulders, forward head posture, along with posterior pelvic tilt, everted feet and wide stance. 
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. 
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. 
Picture
All the tissues surrounding the shoulder joint including the biceps tendon and rotator cuff tendons are susceptible to injury in people with poor posture.
Picture
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.
Picture
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.
Picture
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: 
  1. 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.
  2. 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. 
  3. Doesn't this posture help them swim faster? No. This posture makes swimmers slower and increases their chance of injury. 
  4. 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. 
Related articles/videos:
​How posture affects lung capacity.
How shoulder posture affects running performance.
Overuse injuries and the myth of too much too soon.
Challenging functional workout.
Perfect workout to boost performance.
7 Comments
Kim
7/15/2016 11:22:35 am

I noticed that myself of M. Phelps. Thank you for posting these Blogs to give us the information Matt. I for one appreciate them greatly.

Reply
Matt Whitehead link
7/15/2016 11:56:57 am

Hi Kim, I'm glad you appreciate my blog posts. Posture like Michael Phelps is very common even for none-swimmers. The great thing is there are simple things anyone can do to improve their posture and feel better. If you want assistance figuring out what things you should do to improve your posture give me a call (971-279-2189) or email (matt@oregonexercisetherapy.com) and I'd be happy to help!

Reply
kim
7/15/2016 08:01:44 pm

Thanks Matt! I am PAS certified and looking forward to attending Egoscue University for in person seminars in a few weeks. :) I'd love to network with you.

Matt Whitehead link
7/18/2016 02:54:39 pm

Hi Kim, Have fun at the in-person seminars! They should be really good! Contact me and I'd be happy to network with you.

Reply
Moayad Alhaj Hasan
10/31/2021 10:59:38 pm

Hello,
My name is Moayad, am 26 years old, I have a poor posture.

I have pain in two places.
First one is my shoulder, because of a workout at the gym ND it's specially in my back shoulder very stuck and hard mucels which goes to my neck as well and makes one shoulder higher than the other.

Other problem is in my knee, but I believe it goes back from my hip, because I used to do a lot of hooky and inlines skates for hours and hours which made an imbalanced in knee or hip.

Please get back to me for help. I want to know if swim is good for my problems, if yes how many hours I need to swim, if I need to swim and how exactly should I swim?

I've been dealing with this problems for two years now and I can't really take it no more.

Reply
Matt Whitehead link
4/21/2022 11:55:19 am

Hi Moayad, Swimming like all exercise, when done with strong posture imbalances, just leads to more imbalances by strengthening your imbalances. It would be best to correct your posture imbalances and get your body aligned better before swimming. Once your body is aligned all exercise is good.

Reply
Ethan Mitchell
7/26/2022 11:47:30 am

…. All of the best swimmers in the world demonstrate this posture (you said it yourself).

Are you sure it’s not related to performance? Might want to rethink your stance on that… it damn well doesn’t hurt their performance hahaha

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    About Matt Whitehead

    I'm an Egoscue Institute certified Postural Alignment Specialist (PAS) and Advanced Exercise Therapist (AET), certified personal trainer, PatchFitness performer, FiveFingers wearer, trail runner, mountain biker, dad, music lover, environmentalist, and wanna-be slam dunk champion. I will be providing you with the latest posture exercises to help you live, play, and be pain free.

    Archives

    January 2023
    August 2022
    July 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    December 2021
    October 2021
    February 2021
    February 2019
    October 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013

    Categories

    All
    Beliefs
    Chronic Pain
    Emotions
    Exercise
    Health
    Play
    Posture
    Sports Injury

WHAT OUR CLIENTS HAVE TO SAY

I really just wanted to express my gratitude for what you do and your great help. And, great help it was!! When one is in constant great pain for as long as I was and so desperate for help...words cannot express what I want to say....how can I thank you enough? You helped change my life. 
– Carrie
I feel soooo limber and free in my hip movements and relaxed in my low back. Outstanding and I'm very impressed with the pdf's and the videos, great support to the client. Wonderful job, keep up the great job. – Mike
It is amazing! I've been in pain for 5 years and worked with other therapists and no one has been able to help me. Working with you I am 95% pain free! It feels so good to not have any pain and be able to walk and do things I haven't been able to do for years. Thank you so much! - Joni
Storybrand Website Design by Red Door Designs
Photos used under Creative Commons from mynameisharsha, Jon Grado