Swimming, as you may have heard on numerous occasions,is something very beneficial for back problems. In this articleI will explain what those benefits and which disciplineswould be the most suitable if you suffer from lumbar orcervical problems.
Swimming presents a great advantage: allows us to exercisein desgravitacion. I.e., it is a physical activity that not only hasno impact on joints but, in addition, water is a mediumdense, able to “hold” our body, so it we weigh much less andthe submerged part of the body can move with greater ease.This allows us to strengthen our muscles without jointssuffer. But in addition, exercise in water can help us torecover joint mobility loss due to injury or surgery.
What muscles are activated?
Swimming is a very full year, allowing intense work of thetrunk musculature: abdominals, erector spinal, latissimusdorsi, pectoralis muscles, anterior serrato; but also themuscles of the arms and legs.
What are the best disciplines of swimming if I suffer alumbar or cervical problem?
In general, in both cases the best discipline is swimming onhis back, keeping the cervical spine in an aligned position,since the entire column is maintained in a horizontalposition that does not require rotation or hyperextension ofthe same.
Swimming to crawl with a refined technique is also a goodchoice and should not be a problem. But we must be carefulwith the cervical column rotation when we take air.
Avoid styles breaststroke and Butterfly since pose ahyperextension of the spine.
Style breaststroke could be beneficial in the case of arectification of the cervical lordosis, as well as in the case of arectification of the lumbar lordosis.
In the case of cervical lordosis, better discipline would beback keeping the Chin in a position of double chin.
If you have a lumbar hyperlordosis, crawl style should bepracticed by keeping the head in the water. Breathing we willhelp a snorkel tube, thus preventing cervical rotations.
Other benefits
In addition to the benefits seen until now, working in waterimproving circulatory system due to the hydrostatic pressureand depending on the water temperature, you may alsohave beneficial effects associated with heat (such asrelaxation of muscle tension ) or cold (such as the activationof the immune and circulatory system).
We must take into account that, so swimming is beneficial, aproper technique that allows us to work both sidessymmetrically, without muscle compensation, or harmfulgestures body is very important. If we don’t swim well, thebest is to have the supervision and advice of a professional.