foot cramps?!?!?!?

Iv just resently started getting foot cramps. It happens when I sprint and kick hard. I think it is becasue my shoes are old and have no cushin left in them and its harder on my feet walking around all day. Then I go to the pool and get a foot cramp. I need some new shoes. but i try to bend my toes back to strech my feet before pratice. It seems to work.

I also have a cramping problem. Either in my calves or the arches. I've tried eating more bananas, drinking gatorade, and other sports drinks an it doesn't seem to help. I've also been told that dehydration will cause this. The worst time was last summer when my calves started cramping in the middle of an OW lake swim. I was about a mile frm the finish and at one point was about to call for one of the safety craft for help. They finally relented and I was able to finish but not at the pace I had been swimming up to that point.

I also get foot cramps from time to time, primarily when swimming freestyle towards the end of my workout. Usually, I enter mix some *** stroke and the cramps seem to get much better. :wave:

I'm plagued with foot and toe cramps; when the toes cramp up and crossover one another. I have had this my entire life and can't fix it. It doesn't matter if I swim with fins or without. The only thing that has helped a little bit is bananas and gatorade. I am wondering if this is not an anatomy problem, or overworking muscles, but could it be a depletion of minerals, electrolytes, etc? When they come on, I have to get out of the pool; swimming has to stop completely. This is something I am concerned with on my 18 mile swim attempt. :help: Donna

Bananas can be safe as they did not work for me as a solution for cramps :banana: neither any gatorade or similar drink, but I finally found a solution and that is exercising my feet, now I do foot weigths twise a week, I run a little when I can and I do stretching for five minutes before swimming and cramps are gone since two years ago.:groovy:

I used to make cycling in my youth and our coach used to say 'deep breath, deep breath'. It works for any kind of sport. I have 4 suggestions: 1. Slow down a bit, do not stop and start breathing deeply and more than you need 2. Drink water before and throughout the workout 3. Eat a little bit salty food before the workout 4. Hold on a couple of seconds an it will disppear (it is a bit psychologic; if you fear, it will beat you up)

Foot cramps are the worst. Stretching is good. :banana: are good. Gatorade is good. Craps can be stimulated by dehydration, so drinking water throughout the day (and your workout) can help a lot. But do not over-hydrate yourself. Also, eat something slighly salty at some point before practice. The salt will help your body retain the water.

Superfly poses another set of possibilities. The one that got my attention was the drinking of water too much so it depletes the body of essentials to thwart off foot/toe cramps. I live in such a very hot and humid place year around, I know I drink a minimum of a gallon of water each day, so this one kind of makes sense. Another poster here gave me a suggestion that I haven't tried yet but will. There is a product called Rehydrate and it is available through Advocare on the web. It is specifically for hydration/cramping. I'll give it a try. I am very worried about this problem when I try my long swim, so I will give this product a try now, during my training, to find out if it works for this body of mine. Donna

My personal top reasons for cramps (in order of impact) Not in good shape Not in good shape Not in good shape . . . . . Physical activity (incl sweating) during day and not enough drinking Too much drinking of water during the day (salt and minerals seem to get out of the body) Did not strech after last running exercise Swimming with fins Doing kicks after a long main series...just my 2 cents /Per

hypothyroid=muscle cramps too