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Sunday, July 01, 2001

By Robert Dvorchak, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

MONTREAL -- Jose Silva sustained the type of injury that, in the past, would have kept him out for months before he could even begin to think about the arduous work of getting his legs back in shape.

But a week after his leg was broken by a batted ball on June 3, Silva was already working out to regain the flexibility in his leg joints and do some rudimentary exercises to keep his muscles from atrophying. The bone is still mending, but at month's end, Silva is now working out daily.

"I'm doing stuff people shouldn't be doing with a broken leg," Silva said last week. "It makes it 10 million times better."

The device that allows Silva to start rehab even before the bone mends is called SwimEx, which uses a pool of water to buoy the body weight and take pressure off joints and bones while allowing players to exert themselves against water resistance and controlled currents.

The pool is like an oversized, sunken bathtub that is six-feet deep, 10 feet wide and 18 feet long and is built into the training room off the clubhouse in PNC Park. Because the Pirates have incurred so many injuries this year, the device has been used to help players work their way back from breaks, dislocations, surgeries, pulls and sprains while allowing other players with chronic conditions, such as Kevin Young with his bad knees, to stay in shape by using it as a sort of watery treadmill.

"The biggest advantage is that the water takes the weight off the joints," said trainer Kent Biggerstaff. "In Silva's case, his leg isn't going to heal any faster. But he will save at least two weeks of conditioning. He's already got strength back in his quads and calves. It's probably paid for itself in the first year."

It's hard to imagine an exercise regimen for a player with his left leg immobilized in a cast and hobbling around on crutches. But Silva can sit on the edge of the SwimEx, ease his broken limb into the soothing water and, with something resembling a life vest, stay suspended in the water. Without this feet touching the floor of the pool, he can bend his knee, do leg extensions and curls or simulate a running motion. In addition to helping his aerobic conditioning, he works muscles and joints that could not tolerate free weights but are comfortable on a cushion of water.

"I love it," Silva said. "If I didn't have this, I'd be sitting around pulling my hair out -- what little of it I have. I'm not hurting the leg or making it worse. The bone is still healing but I'm already working out."

The technology for SwimEx has been around since 1984 when a prototype was built as an in-home treadmill to allow people to swim in place the way people walk or run on a treadmill in a gym. A bridge between injury and conditioning, SwimEx is used by hospitals, therapy clinics and by at least 13 major-league teams, nine NFL teams and eight NBA teams.

Trainers love it for its versatility.

After Adrian Brown had surgery to repair a tissue tear in his shoulder, he slipped into the water to move this joint back and forth as a way of regaining range of motion.

When Keith Osik was on the disabled list with a strained hamstring, he was able to run in the water with most of his body weight suspended to regain muscle strength and stay in shape.

"It's a killer workout," Osik said.

Pat Meares uses it to rehab his sprained ankle. Jack Wilson, also out with a hamstring sprain, maintains his workouts in the water. After surgery on his Achilles' tendon, catching instructor Russ Nixon hops into the pool and walks against the current.

Instead of a conventional treadmill, where the floor moves with each step, SwimEx uses a current of water propelled by a paddlewheel effect. The current can be made to be as strong as 10 mph, and the person inside walks or runs against the flow.

"You can run in there and never leave your spot. You're running and you're not going anywhere," Biggerstaff said. "Depending on the settings, you can have as little as 10 percent of your body weight pressing against a joint."

Some healthy players even dip into the SwimEx just to loosen up before a game.

Among those who are sold on SwimEx is Young, whose achy knees make it tough for him to do conventional running. Every other day when the Pirates are home, Young runs 15 minutes against the current.

"I can get an aerobic workout without pounding on my joints. I can save the pounding for out there," said Young, referring to the playing field. "It gives me a whole running motion again."

Before the new ballpark came with a built-in SwimEx, trainers would sometimes take injured players to area swimming pools to get in workouts. But this is a lot more comfortable and convenient, and it will be incorporated into the off-season conditioning program of some athletes, according to strength and condition coach Warren Sipp.

"It makes you wonder how we ever got by without it. It's proven it's value," Sipp said.

"It's not a toy," Sipp added. "Anything that speeds up the rehab of an injured player makes it cheaper for the Pirates in the long run."