Hello, everyone.
I just got back in the pool after three decades away and hope to compete in a few meets in the next calendar year. I love being back at it and can already feel and see my body adjusting in the first couple of weeks. However, doing actual workouts which include kicking drills has caused my legs - mainly in the calves - to cramp up when I get to about 3/4 of the way through the workout and attempt to dolphin kick or streamline kick in a drill.
Is this due to lack of strength, stretching or salt? Or is it just going to take some time before my body adjusts to this new type of movement?
Any advice or insight is appreciated!
Despite what many have written, there is poor evidence suggesting cramps are a result of dehydration and/or electrolyte imbalances. Instead, fatigue appears to be the main cause of cramping, hence the occurrence in the pre-season or at the end of tough sets. At the beginning of the season, you fatigue and this alters your neuro-muscular control in the muscle and the muscle begins to cramp...owie!
Simply get in better shape and work on recovery, don't waste your money. Here is an interview from my website with a leading researcher on the subject, hopefully the mods don't remove it:
www.swimmingscience.net/.../friday-interview-kevin-oconnell-ph-d-candidate-discusses-genes-and-cramping.html
Despite what many have written, there is poor evidence suggesting cramps are a result of dehydration and/or electrolyte imbalances. Instead, fatigue appears to be the main cause of cramping, hence the occurrence in the pre-season or at the end of tough sets. At the beginning of the season, you fatigue and this alters your neuro-muscular control in the muscle and the muscle begins to cramp...owie!
Very interesting. I'm glad to see there's some actual research to confirm what I've witnessed anecdotally.
Doesn't pickle juice have a lot of Na+ and K+?
Yes, but the effect is reportedly almost immediate, well before the electrolytes could have been absorbed into the system. Nobody understands why, but conjecture is that it's almost a reflexive reaction to the acidic taste.
I've noticed that people who use fins the whole workout tend to get cramps frequently. I don't know if you use them or not but my advice is to do the majority of the swim on your own volition and REALLY get into shape instead of becoming a turbo-powered swimmer.
How does this exempt you from cramps exactly?
I don't get cramps much anymore swimming sets with longer rests, shorter repeats, even done at higher outputs.
Endurance swimming, I'm terrible at, rarely do, and associate with lower leg cramps:cane:
but I'm not sure if it was related to Mg+or not
Anyways, I don't have cramps because I train specifically for 50's
How does this exempt you from cramps exactly? I train for 50s, but get cramps. Like Unruh, I've had them going off the blocks when I wasn't even fatigued. I also have low red blood cell magnesium levels. Lack of magnesium is related to cramping, and magnesium deficiency is fairly common. When I took measures to correct this problem, I had less cramping.
From the New York Times:
Preventing Cramps During Exercise
well.blogs.nytimes.com/.../
"Many of us who exercise have heard that sweating and dehydration cause cramps. But the latest science suggests otherwise.... There is, however, growing evidence that cramps during exercise could be a result of overexcited nerve endings, probably as a result of fatigue..."
