How to Return to Swimming After an Injury

I recently began working with “Natalie,” a swimmer who had been having shoulder pain on and off for the past year. She would experience pain then rest. The pain would go away, and she would return to the pool at which point the pain would return.

Natalie felt frustrated, hopeless, and was worried that she might have to stop swimming altogether. Natalie did not realize she was making the same mistake over and over again and that was causing her shoulder pain to keep reoccurring.  

After her pain went away, Natalie would return to the pool and resume her previous training routine. After almost no swimming for one to two weeks, she would increase her volume to 3,000 yards and her frequency to four or five days a week. She would continue her normal swimming routine until her shoulder pain returned at which point the cycle would start over again.

What should Natalie have done instead? That is what this article will address.

How Long Have You Been Out of the Pool?

Not every injury is the same, thus how you return to swimming shouldn’t be the same. The main consideration is how long you have been out of the pool and how much swimming you have been able to do. If you haven’t been able to swim for over a month, how your return to swimming will be completely different than if you have only skipped one practice.

Here is a way to determine how you should return to the pool based on how much swimming you have been able to do.

Three weeks or longer

If it has been over three weeks since you last swam, it is best to start at a low volume of swimming then gradually increase your swimming based on how your body feels. Start at 25%–30% of your normal amount of swimming. Then increase 100 yards or meters per day until you reach your normal volume. This gives your body time to adapt to swimming again and ensures you don’t do too much, too soon.

For example, if you normally swim 3,000 yards a workout and you have missed three weeks or more of training, you would start at 750 yards then increase 100 yards a day. If you have any increase in pain or soreness, maintain your previous training volume for one or two days to allow your body time to adjust. It is important to listen to your body and rest when your body needs it.

One to two weeks

If you haven’t been able to swim for one to two weeks, you can start at a higher training volume. You will still want to gradually increase your training, but your muscles won’t have lost as much strength and endurance if you have only missed one or two weeks.

Divide the amount of time you missed by two. Spend the first half of the days you missed at 50% of your normal swimming volume. Then increase the second half to 75% of your normal training volume.

If you normally swim, say, 4,000 yards a workout and missed 10 days of swimming, you would spend your first five workouts back at 2,000 yards, then the next five workouts at 3,000 yards. After those 10 workouts, you can resume your normal amount of swimming.

Out less than a week

If you have been able to swim in the past week, then you can start back up at your normal training volume. However, you will want to do easy workouts for the amount of days you missed. Meaning, if you missed four days of swimming because of an injury, you will be want to do four workouts comprised of easy swimming at your full training volume for your first four workouts back.

What if you haven’t missed any workouts?

If you haven’t missed any workouts, then modifying your current regimen is a better solution.  If you experience pain above a “4” out of “10” during a workout, there are several modifications you can make to continue training without exacerbating your injury. You can choose to rest, switch to kicking, or perform a non-painful stroke as an alternative. By implementing these modifications, you can continue to train in the pool without missing any workouts while also ensuring that your injury can properly heal and progress.

Assume you experience shoulder pain greater than a “4” out of “10” after swimming 2,500 yards. In such a case, you could try modifying your workout. You might try switching to another stroke, wearing fins, or focusing on kicking until the pain subsides below that “4” out of “10” threshold. If you attempt swimming again and the pain persists at that level, it's best to shorten your workout and prioritize rest for proper recovery.

Swimming Is a Form of Active Recovery

Swimming is a key part of the rehab process. The best way to get your body to handle the demands of swimming is by swimming. Natalie wasn’t wrong to try and get back to swimming, but the mistake she made was by doing too much, too soon. Your muscles lose swimming-specific strength and endurance with time out of the pool. By resuming her swimming at full volume too soon, her muscles were unable to handle the demands of training. This made her body more susceptible to further injury.

Had Natalie started with 50% of her normal training volume and gradually increased it over time, her body would have had the opportunity to adjust, enabling her to return to her normal training volume without risking another injury.

Although it may be mentally challenging to hold back, exercising patience and gradually progressing will yield long-term benefits.