The 2 biggest obstacles to my swimming progress

nodgienodge

I've been trying to improve the speed of my front crawl swimming over the past year but there are 2 physical problems I must overcome. Currently I can swim at about 1m/second but I'm convinced I can vastly improve on this.

The first problem is sneezing fits and a constantly running nose after I leave the pool. This often persists for an hour or so after my swim and seems to go hand-in-hand with the water trapped in my ears which makes me unable to hear, constantly sneezing, and very irritable and the overall feeling is of frustration.

The second problem is if I swim flat-out (ie. give it 100% and try to swim as fast as possible) My legs develop a cramp pretty quickly (usually after about 10 seconds), which means I have to vastly reduce my speed.

Has anybody else had these problems and how did you overcome them? I know professional swimmers don't get these problems. What's the best exercises/techniques for alleviating these problems? All suggestions welcome

sock puppet

On your first point I get very bad sinuses whenever I swim in a pool. In fact I used to swim so much that I never even realised it was the cause of it until I quit. I just don't swim anymore to avoid it. You could try a nose clip while swimming or saline solution to help maybe?

farmerval

If you look in the ART forum here there's a thread currently about sinis problems.

cassid

I got sinus problems from swimming, ended up having surgery to unblock them. It put me off swimming for a good while. I am back swimming now and I use saline drops after every swim to flush out my nose, I use a product called sterimar ( its what the surgeon recommend me to use), there is also another one called sinus rinse, you could try this.

Are u warming up and stretching before a swim ? Perhaps try using the kickboard to help with your legs- am not expert , hopefully someone else might be able to help you more.

Burkatron

Nose clip, ear plugs, antihistamines (I found the 1's with pseudoephidrine work best the odd time I get problems like this) & if needed saline solution before & after you swim! Sterimar, as suggested before, is great!

On cramp - whats your fluid intake like? Have you tried upping your calcium &/or calcium intake? Where in your legs do you get cramp? Have you had or do you have any current injuries in your legs or your lower back or groin?

Just to note, I don't suffer with cramp but these are potential causes of cramps.
I'd try to get this sorted before you even think about upping your speed!

nodgienodge

Thanks for all the advice about the sinuses .. Is it caused by the chlorine or what? I might try the nose/ear plugs but I'm also convinced it's all connected somehow and the 2 problems are just 2 aspects of a biger problem with my overall fitness.

I agree stretching is very important to improving swimming esp. stretching the arms/shoulders/neck.

I don't always get the sinus problems, sometimes they don't happen- that's why I don't thing it's an allergic reaction

ician

nodgienodge wrote: »

Thanks for all the advice about the sinuses .. Is it caused by the chlorine or what? I might try the nose/ear plugs but I'm also convinced it's all connected somehow and the 2 problems are just 2 aspects of a biger problem with my overall fitness.

I agree stretching is very important to improving swimming esp. stretching the arms/shoulders/neck.

I don't always get the sinus problems, sometimes they don't happen- that's why I don't thing it's an allergic reaction

Do you do tumble turns?

Balmed Out

If your doing 50m in 50 seconds then itd point to poor technique if your relatively young and fit. Depending on what your doing who knows how it would affect you cramp wise etc.
A lot of people when sprinting have very clumsy fast strokes which are completely inefficient. Youll swim faster with a good long stroke rather then simply moving your arms faster.