Today I got terrible cramps on my feet soon after started, and had to quit after less than 15 min. When you get a cramp in the middle of practice and it doesn't recover promptly, do you just get out of the pool or continue?
Foot cramps I swim through. They are annoying, but not bad enough to stop swimming for. With calf cramps I usually need to stop and wait for it to ease before starting to swim again. There are times that the cramp comes back as soon as I start swimming. Typically this occurs at the very end of practice for me, so it's no big deal. Those calf cramps are terrible. If I get a bad one my leg will be sore for a few days afterward.
I have always consumed bananas and water.
I have heard about bananas due to its potasium content, but always thought it's purely theoretical. I would be interested if there is a real-life proof of this. Did you notice any difference by just eating more bananas before swimming? If it really helps, we could also take a potasium supplement pill :)
My feet are much more likely to cramp when I don't get enough sleep. I remember getting an awful calf cramp in HS swimming when I'd stayed up late writing a paper and I'd only gotten 2 hours of sleep.
One thing I've realized in the past months is that if my calves and hamstrings are not stretched beforehand, cramps in the foot are much more likely to happen.
JIM
A friend wih MS has told me drinking Tonic Water (yes as in Gin and Tonic) helps with the cramps.
If you're struggling with cramps regularly maybe trying a glass of Tonic Water pre practice may help, or just including it in your diet.:wine:
My coach told me that as soon as you get a cramp, you should get out of the pool and rub it down. He said that the cold will keep the muscle tight and make hit hard to get rid of it quickly. I don't know how true that is, but one of the girls on our team had a bad foot cramp last week. She got out right away and was back in the pool after a few minutes or so.
Ugh this has been an all-too-often-problem for me lately. I do a pulling set and then foot cramp time, they're more in my toe area. The cramps used to be brief and I could return to swimming after massaging my foot. Now once I get one during practice it can go away for a few minutes after massaging it, but as soon as I start swimming it's horrible cramps and it cycles like that. They've cut my last three practices short. :(
Reasons for foot cramps -
#1 You are not in condition.
#2 You are forcing your toes to point.
#3 You kick to hard after pulling.
Many other reasons probably not any thing to do with potasium or calcium.
Thanks. I got out of the pool after having tried bending and stretching my toes and arch for quite a while. I started getting the cramps during backstroking (which I guess is easier to cause foot cramps than other strokes?). Maybe I should do the bending and strentching outside the pool as mjgold's coach suggested, then go back in the pool after recovering, but it was quite late yesterday so I simply quitted.
I wonder if there are people who never get cramps during swimming?
