Shoulders / Neck

To remove interference by Youtube videos, find the red line at the bottom of the swim video, drag it to the left, click ‘more videos’ on the left and then click x at the top right of the interference.

If you want to learn about the shoulder joints you exercise, click here and then scroll down until you reach the section on Shoulders.

1 Arm stretch walk

Stand up straight. Then slowly lean forward until your hands are just below the surface of the water. Then gently stretch forward and walk forward. I say slowly and gently, not jerkily, because this is a warm up exercise. If you stretch far enough you should feel it pulling at the shoulder blades first one side, then the other.

.

2 Shoulder blade squeeze

Stand up straight. Then rotate your shoulder backward; then pull your shoulders down and backwards, squeezing the shoulder blades together. Can a friend see whether you can hold a pencil between your shoulder blades? An extra variation is to turn your body sideways as you do this.

.

3 Shoulder role

Bend your knees so that your shoulders are under the water and otherwise stand erect. This is like the shoulder blade squeeze except you are also rolling your shoulders backwards in a circle. Do you think, at the end of the video, that you could hold a pencil between the two shoulder blades?

.

4 Tricep stretch

Where’s that itch you cannot scratch? Reach behind your back and then up behind your neck with alternate arms. His shoulders should have been under the water !!

.

5 Neck flexibility

Always first stand up straight with shoulder exercises facing in front of you with your shoulders under the water.. Elderly people tend to bend forward too much. Turn your head slowly to look over each shoulder. Then slowly tilt your head sideways. Also (not shown here) face in front of you; slowly look skywards; then down as far as you can go; hold it and pull your chin in. Do what you can do. Don’t try to do what you cannot.

.

6 Neck exercises

Stand up straight. Turn head slowly to look over each shoulder. Tip head slowly to place each ear towards the shoulder. Repeat each side. Notice, the elderly have very restricted movement if this exercise is not practised when younger.

.

7 Shoulder strengthening

First stand up straight. Shoulders should be under the surface of the water. If you have now warmed up, you can now do these stretching movements more quickly. Then rest arms on floats and stretch arms to and fro first on the surface of the water and then pushing the floats down in the water.

.

8 Shoulder strengthening with floats

Stand erect. Rest hands on floats and stretch arms out to the sides, behind, in front and across your chest. Feel those joints gradually loosening as you push the floats down with straight arms making sure the floats do not pop up out of control.

.

9 Shoulder muscle control

Holding a float, or if you like two or three floats, centrally with two hands, push them strongly down in the water.

.

10 Arm stretch with torso strengthening

Stand up straight. Then lean forwards rest hands on floats and stretch arms to and fro on the surface of the water in front of you. It is better if you can bend your knees so that your shoulders are just under the water. An option we will see in another exercise is to turn the float sideways so that when you push it in front of you and pull it back, you use your strength to make waves.

.

11 Shoulder strengthening with paddle

Stand erect. Hold paddles (small flippers probably). Push them forward and then out to the side making waves. Then return to the middle and back again. You should feel the use of your shoulder blades. As in the previous exercise, it is better to stand with your feet at the width of your hips, bend your knees a little so that your shoulders are just under the water. This will make your arms horizontal as you sweep out and in.

.

12 Shoulder elbow float walk

Lean forwards as far as possible. Using a paddle, small flipper or a float, push straight arms alternately forward and back again. Feel the pull on your shoulders.

.

13 Laying shoulder articulation

This exercise is not easy if you have not previously learned to float on your back. If you haven’t get help from a colleague. Start with one hand holding a bar and work with only the other arm. Next let go. Breathe in deeply then hold a good lung full of air when you breathe out half way. Flex your hips to bring up your legs. Relax with your arms behind your head. Later do a sculling motion with or without paddles.

.

14 Float pull apart

Holding a float or paddle in each hand stretching forward; then move them out sideway and back again. It is best if your shoulder can be just under the water. As you get older this is quite a demanding exercise to maintain your strength.

.

15 Side stretch

Stand with your feet apart. Stretch down sideways to touch your foot as near as you can. This will mean your head entering the water briefly. Then come up to touch the other foot as near as you can with the other hand. This is both a shoulder and a spinal exercise.

.

16 Rotator cuff

Plant your elbow well into your side and keep it there. Then with a paddle (a child’s flipper in the video) move the lower arm backwards and forwards right across the front of your torso and back again.

.

17 Float push down

Hold a float flat on the surface of the water and push it down with both hands. Keep holding it horizontal gradually letting it rise back to the surface. Repeat the exercise. Make sure your shoulders are at, or just below the water.

.

18 Paddle up and down

This is like the last exercise but more difficult. Hold two floats one in each hand and push them down alternatively

.

19 Flexibility with resistance

As in some previous exercises, hold a paddle in each hand and sweep your arms out to the side and back; but in this case experiment going deeper and using straight arms or bent arms. Notice the differences.

.

20 Straight arm sweep with paddle

Variations with the straight arm: no paddle and varying the position of the wrist when sweeping with the paddle. Notice the bent legs, the position of the feet and shoulders under the water.

.

21 Shoulder Push and Pull

Over grasp the bar to keep your head above the water. Assume a horizontal position. Pull yourself up to the bar and push yourself away again. The flippers add resistance to require greater strength. This is a demanding exercise but an enjoyable one.

.

22 Relaxing

The secret lies in inflating your chest and stretching yet relaxing.