PhysioQinetics

Swimming is great general exercise that strikes that fine balance between aerobic energy burning to improve cardioascular health, as well as core and upper-body muscle strengthening. Besides, it is a fantastic recreational sport for people of all ages to enjoy regardless of your level of ability or fitness!

The buoyancy effect of water aids rehabilitation of injured muscles and joints - and some therapists view swimming as a natural extension to hydrotherapy (specialised physiotherapy performed in hydropool).

At our Staines Physiotherapy Clinic, our partnering gym at Staines Spelthorne Leisure Centre has a 25m, six-lane main pool which is very popular for all local swimmers. Many of our patients told us that swimming is enhacing not only their physical health but their mental wellbeing, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even 30 minutes of swimming a couple of times a week can be an excellent way to building cardiovascular endurance, as well as muscular fitness.

Swimmers, however, are just like other athletes and can be prone to certain overuse injuries. Since over 90% of the forward propulsive power comes from the upper extremity, a large proportion of swimming injuries we see in our Staines Physiotherapy Clinic involve the shoulder.

Do you know on average a competitive swimmer can perform as many as 2,000-4,000 stroke cycles per 2 hour session in the pool - that's a staggering 16,000+ cycles in one typical traiing weeks! The prevalanece of shoulder injurie in high-level swimmer can be as high as two-third...

To make matter worse, evolution has not been kind to the shoulder joints of swimmers. Our shoulder joint is not a very stable joint in its core design - to facilitate its versatility and range of movement, it is held by the rotator cuffs - a group of muscles that act to stability this shallow joint via tendons squeezing through small gaps between the bony structures of the joints - a perfect recipe for repetitive strain injury (RSI).

If you suffer from shoulder injuries, we have in fact a whole PhysioQinetics Exercise Video section dedicated to neck and shoulder exercises.

See below for one of our exercises to strengthen your rotator cuff:-

Our physiotherapists at Staines Physiotherapy Clinic at Staines Spelthorne Leisure Centre are experts at diagnosing and treating complex shoulder disorder, whether they are swimming-related or caused by other injuries. Call us now to arrange your treatment today!