Is Breast Stroke Swimming Bad For Knees?

Swimming is one of the best exercises and pastime activities in the world. However, it is not without some issues. That is why we are asking: Can breaststroke cause knee pain?

This question is common among recreational swimmers who have had knee surgery or knee replacement. In addition, even people with knee arthritis ask this question.

But first:

What is the breaststroke swimming style?

We could say something about the breast stroke swimming style. It is one of the best swimming styles for cardiovascular workout. If swimming is your main means of getting a cardiovascular workout, you should try the breast stroke style.

Also read our articles on:

Best swim trunks for love handles

Best swimsuits for sagging breasts

But while your lungs and heart (cardio) will be happy with this style, Alas! Research shows that your knees might not be too happy.

So, is breast stroke swimming bad for knees? It is bad if you have had knee replacement or knee surgery of any type. It can aggravate pain if you have knee arthritis. Usually, this swimming style can also cause knee pain where there was no pain initially. The reason for this is that the knees do a lot of kicking work when swimming in this style.

If you have any knee or leg issues, it would be best to wait to heal completely before you swim or if you must, avoid the breaststroke style. In addition, you should swim slowly because that might help your knees to heal faster.

When you are doing breaststroke swimming, you perform what we call the whip kick. To do this kick, you bring the legs together and then thrust out the legs with the knees together. The whip kick is also called the breast stroke.

Does swimming aggravate knee pain?

Unfortunately, swimming can and does indeed aggravate knee pain. It is easy to understand why because it does the bulk of the work when you are swimming.

Also read: Can you swim in the ocean with a herpes outbreak?

The contraction and expansion of the knee muscles when you swim aggravates pain. Therefore, if you have inflammation, knee arthritis or other issues, you might not be able to swim well.

Please note that when you have healthy legs, swimming is easily the best exercise for the knees. It helps to build and strengthen the muscles around the knees.

However, you will have a harder time if you have developed  breast-strokers knee, which we shall explain below.

What is breast strokers knee?

This condition is also known as the swimmers knee. The reason why it has the name of this swimming style in it is that it is more common among breast strokers.

In addition, this is one of the most common knee problems arising from swimming. The ligaments and tendons in the knee are overused when swimming, therefore causing swelling and inflammation.

The kicking action develops tension inside the knee. In turn, this causes the Medial Collateral Ligament to develop problems. Therefore, the more you do your whip kick, the more your knees suffer.

If breast stroke swimming causes inflammation to good knees, you can guess what it will do to bad knees. It will make them even worse. Therefore, the best thing to do is to avoid getting a breaststroker’s knee.

In addition, you can check out this resource for information regarding the best swimming styles for bad knees.

Why does my knee hurt when I swim breaststroke?

Each swimming stroke has its own special kicking mechanism. Therefore, if you have been complaining of knee pain after swimming using the breaststroke method, you are experiencing medial knee pain.

If it means anything, you are not the only one experiencing knee pain after swimming the breaststroke style. Three out of four swimmers experience this pain.

When you perform the whip kick, which is the signature propulsion kick for the breaststroke swimming technique, this is going to exert force on the knee joint and this could cause an inflammation of sorts in the knee muscles.

The whip kick is the main cause of the knee hurting after you swim using the breaststroke technique. We have aforementioned this, but we cannot overemphasize it.

This problem is even bigger for young women as the angle of their hips in relation to the knees changes as the hips volume increases.

But there is hope. When you are training how to swim by yourself, you can train how to swim the breaststroke properly.

Even when you are teaching a 4 year old how to swim, pay special attention to how you instill the lessons for swimming the breaststroke technique.

Adopting the correct swim stroke for this technique is hard since it involves retraining the timing of the hip muscles and re-learning the entire swimming stroke.

So to answer the question on why the knee hurts when you swim using the breaststroke method, it is because your hip muscles are not coordinated properly.

How to improve breast stroke swimming

Knowing a few ways to improve your breaststroke swimming technique can also help you avoid knee pain.

Here is a brief overview of a few things you can do:

It starts with the bare basics of swimming.

First, keep a proper position in the water. You need to keep your body straight, but tilt the head up a little so that the legs stay beneath water rather than on the water.

Secondly, Do not let the hips droop in the water. Try hard to hold the whole body in a straight line. Despite what we said in point one, your legs should not drop below you. They should stay just slightly beneath the water.

Thirdly, to swim, move your hands ahead, up and outward slightly, such that the elbows are on the same level with your head, or slightly higher.

Fourthly, When moving the arms in the water, contain them within a narrow circle as much as possible instead of spreading them out too wide.

Fifthly, sweep the arms back towards the body as if you want them to come to the chest.

To kick in the right way to avoid knee pain from breaststroke swimming, try the following:

Firstly, the knees should be slightly outside the hips.

Secondly, as you kick, move the feet outward and backward, like a frog does when jumping. This movement needs to be controlled. Do not keep the feet loose.

Thirdly, to finish the kick, the legs get back together. Try hard to keep body in a straight line.

Fourthly, to build up for the second kick, bring the feet to your buttocks.

How do you swim breaststroke without hurting your knees?

While three out of four swimmers will experience knee pain from swimming with the breaststroke method, it is still possible to prevent this from happening.

However, you will have to be very deliberate about it. You can follow the guidelines we have outlined above.

The best thing is to swim more often so that you can perfect your breaststroke swimming technique. The more you swim, the more you try to perfect your technique. So, make that above ground swimming pool useful this swimming season and beyond.

You can watch the video below to see how to perfect your breaststroke swimming technique:

Conclusion: Can breaststroke cause knee pain?

Well, Is breast stroke swimming bad for knees?

We can conclude that it is since it will aggravate your knee pain. The breast stroke is not called the whip kick for nothing. It is because it requires you to kick out strongly.

However, this kicking is not good for the inside of your knees. Therefore, it is best to try gentler swimming styles when you have bad knees. In fact, such might also help in the healing process of the knees.