Question for the swimmers

fitcore · February 4th, 2006, 10:23 PM

I was doing breaststroke this evening, and while doing the kick, I felt a pop in my inner left groin. It's 3 hours later, and it's starting to feel tighter. I can't adduct my leg (pull inward) very much without pain.
Has anyone experienced this before?
Hoping that wrapping it and taking a few days off will help.
I am starting the triathlon season next month, and want to know how to treat this.
Any feedback is appreciated.

**mudrock** · February 5th, 2006, 04:03 PM

Sounds painful. What you describe is not very common among swimmers, but I have seen it happen before.
I have a question with regard to your stroke technique:

When you kick (during breaststroke), are your knees outside your feet, or are your feet outside your knees?
A proper kick would place your feet outside your knees. Kicking with your knees outside your feet could lead to injury, plus it's less efficient.
As with all sports, flexibility is very important. Since you are a tri-athelete, you already know this, but I'm just writing it for other readers.

I would avoid breaststroke for a while. Stick to freestyle or backstroke. You don't even need the breaststroke for a triathalon, anyway.

If the pain persists after a few days, see a doctor, of course.

mr-bull · February 6th, 2006, 03:09 PM

Ahh welcome to the wonderfull world of groin strain.....
It unfortinatly just one of those things that goes with swimming, like the odd twist of your ankle when your running. Just keep away from the breaststroke kick for a while.
Its gona happen again and again especially if your tall and thin like me. I always have a plan b ready for training if this happens as i get it a lot. Try doing more pull excercises while your waiting for the twinge to go away. Concentrating on just your breaststroke arms for a couple hundred meters while draggin a float behind you will do wonders for your stroke pull power.

As was said before the trick to stopping it happen is to keep control of your legs and keep the motion fluid. But no matter how carefull you are, it will creep up on you and bite you just below the ass from time to time

**engr** · February 7th, 2006, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr-bull

But no matter how carefull you are, it will creep up on you and bite you just below the ass from time to time

Or since it is a groin strain, may bite in other less welcome areas

I agree with Mr Bull, if you need to continue to work breast, work on the pulling. If you don't especially need breast since you are training for triathlon I would expect mostly freestyle emphasis, just cut it out until the groin gets better.

Best of luck, groin pulls are no fun...

fitcore · February 8th, 2006, 03:57 PM

Thanks for the responses!
I am a triathlete, but also an aspiring competitive swimmer. That's why I was even training breast.
Good point on my foot position...when I do the kick, my knees are outside my feet. That's what put so much tension on the groin area. I'll have to work on correcting the kick.
I'll be sticking to the free/back/butterfly for a while, and maybe do some pull work with the breast arm stroke only.
Thanks again guys!

figueras76 · February 24th, 2006, 10:25 AM

its good

shroomdog · February 24th, 2006, 04:44 PM

What parts of the body should one work on for swimming the best ?...legs, arms,?

**mudrock** · March 12th, 2006, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shroomdog

What parts of the body should one work on for swimming the best ?...legs, arms,?

This depends on what stroke you are focusing on, and how seriously you are taking the sport.

In general, the legs are the driving force in swimming. Weak legs equal slow swimmer. Also, your legs use approximately 80% of the oxygen that you intake while swimming. The legs are more dominant in some strokes than others. Breaststroke is almost all legs, while the others (Back, fly and free) have a bigger emphasis on the upper body. Train your legs. Many coaches (myself included) incorporate relatively large amounts of kick sets within a workout (about 1/4 to 1/3 of the total yardage).

Butterfly, backstroke and freestyle require quite a bit of strength and endurance in the pecs, lats, trapezius, delts, triceps, and forearms. The lats, pecs, and triceps are used in the "pull" phase of the stroke, while the delts and trapezius are used in the "recovery" phase of the stroke.

Like many individual sports, swimming is one that requires technique, endurance and an effective strength to weight ratio. The huge, 280 lb. brute will not necessarily be able to swim any faster or effectively than the 140 lb. guy.

When weight training for swimming, you should do workouts with high reps (15+) and low weights. Swimming depends on being streamlined, and the body builder or powerlifter's physique may not be the most effective shape for parting the water.

I no longer swim competatively, and I have taken up some relatively serious strength training in the past few years, so I have builked up quite a bit. I can still hold my own in the water (with my peers, not the young hot-shots), but I can definitely feel how my body no longer parts the water the way it used to.

Have fun, and good luck!

nitro28 · November 1st, 2006, 08:58 PM

Yes, mudrock is right on that. I believe legs are quite an important part of swimming, if you want to swim fast work on the streamline, the way you pull, and the way your body moves with your strokes. Try to go through the water like a razor, not like a cannon ball.