Shoulder exercises for swimmers
Increase Strength and Mobility in your Shoulders for Improved Performance
By Chris Ritter
Many swimmers encounter time away from the water because of a shoulder injury, either minor or severe. Some shoulders are too tight and others aren’t strong or stable enough. Swimmers need mobile and stable shoulders:
- Mobility: the ability to move through an optimal range of motion
- Stability: the ability to produce and absorb force through a joint
Depending on your training history and if you’ve had injuries, you might need more mobility, more stability, or both. Here are some quick self-tests to find out which exercises might help you more.
Mobility
Raise one arm above your head and bend your elbow, pointing your hand down the middle of your back. Bend the other arm behind the middle of your back and try to touch the other hand. If you can’t touch your hands together in this position, you might be able to make some mobility gains in your shoulder joints.
The following shoulder mobility exercises might help improve the range of motion available in your shoulders. Throughout these exercises, make sure you breathe and can smile—if you can’t, the stretch is too intense and you need to back off. Your body only makes lasting changes that it’s comfortable with and your facial expression and breathing are strong indicators of comfort.
Shoulder mobility + tennis ball: This exercise can be uncomfortable at first, but over time it really helps to open up the shoulder joint. Lie on your back and place a tennis ball between your spine and scapula with your palm up and arm on the floor. Bring the arm across your body toward the opposite hip, then bring it back up overhead in a diagonal motion. You can also take your arm across your body, then bring it up overhead, and return it to your side in a snow angel motion.
T-spine mobility + double tennis ball: Lying on your back, place two tennis balls (either taped together or in a tied-off sock) at the bottom of your spine where your ribs connect. Perform a quarter sit-up movement a few times. Slide the balls up one vertebra and perform the same sit-up movement on this vertebra. Continue until you’ve reached where your shoulder meets your spine. Focus on the mid-back, not the lower back or neck.
Seated wall angel knees bent: Sit on the floor with your back upright against a wall. Place your forearms and elbows against the wall. Squeeze your shoulder blades together and hold them tight, and move your arms up and down the wall as long as you can keep contact with the wall and your elbows.
Wind-up stretch: With one hand, grab something solid at about your height. Swing your leg (the one on the same side as the arm holding onto the wall, chair, or whatever stable item you found) around behind you and lean toward that side with your torso. You should feel a stretch along your back and lats.
Strength
Can you do five pull-ups with full extension without kicking to get over the bar? If you can’t, you can make some gains in strength to stabilize your shoulders.
Try these shoulder strengthening exercises[GL2] to help improve your shoulder strength.
Batwing + Dumbbell: Lying face down on a bench, grab a dumbbell in each hand and pull your hands to your arm pits. Squeeze and hold your shoulder blades together with your elbows as high as possible for about five seconds.
Waiter carry + Dumbbell: Lift a weight overhead and hold your shoulder so that it’s “sunk into” [GL3] your socket, as opposed to you lifting your shoulder up and out of the socket. Walk as slowly as possible while maintaining control of the weight and your arm.
Kneeling single-arm press + Dumbbell: Kneeling on one knee and with the same side arm, press a weight overhead. Keep in mind how wide you place the foot of the bent leg on the floor from the kneeling knee; a smaller support base increases the exercise difficulty. The wider out you put your front foot, the easier the exercise will be.
Pull-up: Grasp the pull-up bar and start fully extended. Pull yourself up until at least your chin, neck, or even chest reaches above the bar height. Lower to full extension.
If you’re unable to do any pull-ups, read Pull-Ups Are Possible, where you’ll find an exercise progression to get you to your first pull-up.
Seek the advice of a qualified trainer for help performing shoulder exercises. If you already experience shoulder problems, consult your medical professional before starting a new exercise regimen.Having strong and mobile shoulders can help swimmers find more success and longevity in the pool.
Note from Coach Doug: Please consider these dryland exercises to help with your shoulders, and in particular, shoulder flexibility because it relates to getting into the best streamline position possible.