{"id":396132,"date":"2019-10-04T04:07:13","date_gmt":"2019-10-04T11:07:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=396132"},"modified":"2020-03-05T11:16:49","modified_gmt":"2020-03-05T18:16:49","slug":"dont-let-injury-end-your-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/dont-let-injury-end-your-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Let Injury End Your Season"},"content":{"rendered":"

Injury happens. Sometimes it\u2019s minor and other times quite significant. Perhaps you crash your bike and break your clavicle, get a gash & need stitches, or just get some bad road rash, each of which will keep you out of the pool. \u00a0Some athletes get persistent ear infections, often called \u201cswimmers ear.\u201d Others wake up one morning to realize what was previously just a sore shoulder has morphed into full-blown overuse syndrome.<\/p>\n

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Physical therapy can help with injury recovery; Photo Courtesy: Vasa Trainer<\/p><\/div>\n

Depending on what\u2019s happened, an injury doesn\u2019t necessarily mean you\u2018ll lose fitness while you heal, or that your season is over.\u00a0There are a number of ways to manage injury to prevent it from being a short-term show-stopper or an end to the racing season.<\/p>\n

As long as your injury still allows you to go in the water, swimming is often the best modality for recovery according to\u00a0Eric Neilsen<\/a><\/strong>, who has been\u00a0coaching swimmers & triathletes since 1991.<\/p>\n

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Just because you have an injury it doesn’t mean you will lose fitness while you heal. Photo Courtesy: Vasa Trainer<\/p><\/div>\n

1. Don’t ignore a possible problem.<\/h3>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t get injured,\u201d advises\u00a0Sam Gyd\u00e9<\/a><\/strong>, (pronounced He-day) a 44-year old Belgian age-group Ironman champion triathlete, who is also a full-time dispatcher for 20 fire stations.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s sound advice that\u2019s not always easy to follow \u2014 some injuries happen by accident. And Gyd\u00e9 is spot on saying that many injuries can be prevented by paying attention and being proactive. \u201cIf you have an annoyance here or there,\u201d says Gyd\u00e9, \u201cdon\u2019t ignore it, don\u2019t run through the pain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most injuries don\u2019t come on suddenly. \u00a0If you listen to your body, you\u2019ll be aware of the signs that something is structurally wrong, or that you\u2019re overdoing it on a particular activity. \u201cBack off, see a physical therapist, deal with the thing that\u2019s not quite right and you can often avoid a bigger problem,\u201d says Gyd\u00e9.<\/p>\n

Neilsen advises using a\u00a0Vasa SwimErg<\/a>\u00a0as a diagnostic tool to prevent injuries. \u201cA SwimErg lets type A, data-driven guys watch their power as they try to balance left and right arms,\u201d says Neilsen. \u201dAfter five minutes with no walls, no breaks, no flip turns, you know if someone has a strong posterior chain or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

2. Swim.<\/h3>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re relatively healthy, you can have great swim workouts even when you\u2019re injured, either in the pool or while using a\u00a0Vasa Swim Ergometer<\/a>, which means with or without getting wet,\u201d says Neilsen. When an athlete has an injury that keeps them out of the water, Nielsen trains them on a\u00a0Vasa SwimErg<\/a>\u00a0and he gets significant positive results. By being forced to switch up their routine, athletes can maintain fitness or even get stronger, particularly if they take the opportunity to work on a weakness.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes athletes actually recover from their injury and get in better shape because they\u2019ve used a\u00a0SwimErg<\/a>\u00a0to work out,\u201d says Neilsen.<\/p>\n

Team Vasa Tip:\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Learn how swimmer Zack Turk of Kenyon College did just that using the Vasa SwimErg in this VasaBlog Post |\u00a0The Save-Your-Season Solution For Injured Swimmers<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one big pulling fest on the\u00a0SwimErg<\/a>, and it can make you feel so strong once you\u2019re back in the water. It\u2019s a massive cardio load,\u201d says Neilsen.<\/p>\n

3. Change your program if you injury is from overuse.<\/h3>\n

Dryland swim training can be helpful in preventing overtraining because it\u2019s very concentrated quality work without thousands of repetitive strokes. \u00a0That can be a key to mitigating overuse, the number one injury Neilsen encounters. Nielsen uses a swim ergometer to focus the athlete\u2019s efforts on quality, efficient strokes. \u00a0It removes the brief rest that a flip turn in a pool provides. He is able to push them physically without overtaxing their shoulders. Swimming on Vasa\u2019s SwimErg is a concentrated effort that gives both athlete and coach reliable, repeatable metrics: meters, RPM, Power (L & R watts) and heart rate.<\/p>\n

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Dryland swim training can be helpful in preventing overtraining because it’s very concentrated quality work; Photo Courtesy: Vasa Trainer<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIf a swimmer\u2019s Freestyle stroke biomechanics are poor and they start to increase the load by swimming more distance, the injury potential goes way up,\u201d says Neilsen. \u201cWith a\u00a0swim erg<\/a>, I can get an athlete who is prone to overtraining, take away their flip turn and it\u2019s upper body go-time.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Neilsen is working with a swimmer who has a lower extremity injury and limited ability to be in the water, Vasa SwimErg workouts help the athlete maintain upper body fitness and meet target goals with stroke rate and power monitors.<\/p>\n

4. If you get injured, learn from your mistakes.<\/h3>\n

That\u2019s Gyd\u00e9\u2019s second piece of advice: take the time to understand how and why you got injured, what the warning signs were that you ignored, and then use the recovery from injury as a time to focus on improving something else.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s the offseason and you can\u2019t run, put extra effort into swimming,\u201d says Gyd\u00e9. \u201cIf you\u2019re injured in the buildup to a race, then choose a damage limitation strategy and find ways of cross training to maintain your fitness.<\/p>\n

5. Build opposing muscles.<\/h3>\n

\u201cWeak supporting muscles can be the cause of injury,\u201d says Neilsen. \u201cOppositional exercises can help strengthen small muscle groups.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Neilsen, oppositional exercises can also make an athlete feel stronger because it gives the athlete\u2019s \u2018primary movers\u2019 a little break. \u201cIt\u2019s like running backward,\u201d says Neilsen. \u201cIn swimming, everything is straight ahead. But you need to work in all three plains of motion, transverse, frontal and straight for best fitness.\u201d<\/p>\n

In order to do that, Nielsen puts an athlete in a supine and sometimes a reverse position on a\u00a0Vasa SwimErg<\/a>. \u00a0Instead of the athlete lying on their stomach and swimming in a standard freestyle motion, Nielsen has his athletes do drills while laying on their back.<\/p>\n

He sets the machine\u2019s resistance low. \u201cWe do dryland double-arm backstroke laying on the back with the head toward the front end of the machine. \u00a0We also do lots of recovery stroke exercises on our stomachs with the head facing the rear of the machine,\u201d says Neilsen. \u201cWhen you\u2019re swimming, you\u2019re always pulling down. Reverse the position and you\u2019re lifting up. It\u2019s one of the best ways to strengthen opposing muscles.\u201d<\/p>\n

6. Get coached and gain insights.<\/h3>\n
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Coaches can use a Vasa Trainer on the pool deck to help monitor athlete form; Photo Courtesy: Vasa Trainer<\/p><\/div>\n

As an athlete is rehabilitating using a\u00a0Vasa SwimErg<\/a>, the coach can observe the athlete\u2019s stroke biomechanics and help them improve their technique.<\/p>\n

\u201cI watch an athlete swim on the erg, then I take my hands and start manipulating their arms to give them some cues on how to clean up their stroke biomechanics,\u201d says Neilsen. \u201cI train a lot using time. On the\u00a0SwimErg<\/a>, I can set up appropriate time-based intervals with rest to simulate how an athlete would train in the water.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Ironman Sam Gyd\u00e9 says many injuries can be prevented by paying attention to your body.\u00a0 Most injuries don’t come on suddenly.; Photo Courtesy: Vasa Trainer<\/p><\/div>\n

Like Gyd\u00e9, Coach Neilsen says that an injury can be an opportunity to actually improve your skills. \u201cYou can help an injured athlete improve pace, says Neilsen. \u201cWith no walls or flip turns faor push-offs, it\u2019s go-time for pure swim-specific pulling. Reality sets in about two and a half minutes after they start. It\u2019s a hard-line measurement with stroke rate and power.\u201d<\/p>\n

7. Take the strain off.<\/h3>\n

Using low resistance on a Vasa SwimErg allows a swimmer to simulate stroke patterns even if they don\u2019t have the ability to swim in the water. \u201cYou can increase resistance as an athlete regains range of motion,\u201d says Neilsen. \u201cYou can alleviate gravity by turning down the resistance. You\u2019re promoting blood flow and movement without strain, which is a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neilsen says that rehabilitating a running injury using the pool can be great. \u00a0However, if you\u2019re trying to get a non-swimmer moving again, and the motion of swimming is the best way to do that, the\u00a0Vasa SwimErg<\/a>\u00a0is often the secret to success.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe beauty of swim training on a\u00a0SwimErg<\/a>\u00a0is that you can easily breathe all the time because there\u2019s no chlorine or face in the water,\u201d says Neilsen. \u201cSo you can take someone with zero swimming background, even a baseball player or volleyball athlete, and with a little bit of instruction they can get a great swim-specific workout without worrying about drowning.\u201d<\/p>\n

For some people, getting into a bathing suit can be intimidating. A\u00a0SwimErg<\/a>\u00a0removes those hurdles. And for new swimmers, especially those with limited upper body strength, swim training on a\u00a0Vasa<\/a>\u00a0lets them experience a load they may not yet be able to manage in the water.<\/p>\n

8. Maintain a positive attitude<\/h3>\n

\u201cMy position in life is that there is always a positive and negative approach,\u201d says Gyd\u00e9. \u201cYou should always go for positive. Don\u2019t cry over spilled milk. Injury sucks, so suck it up and find the best strategy to reach your goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Eric Neilsen<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0is a Masters Swim Coach & multisport coach from Loveland, CO.\u00a0 He\u2019s competed in over 100 triathlons since 1986 and has been coaching swimmers & triathletes since 1991. Coach Neilsen coaches athletes worldwide on how training with the Vasa SwimErg, including technique instruction, training plans, and performance testing.<\/em><\/p>\n

Eric\u2019s athletic resume is impressive as well including being a:<\/em><\/p>\n