leg cramps in high intensity intervals

A topic close to my heart. My workout tonight was ended when my calf locked up during 50 sprints. The reason legs get hit more often than anything else is the force of the pushing your body off the wall, which is especially severe when you're sprinting like that. If you drink coffee, the caffine is negating all that water drinking you're doing. Eat something salty, like saltines or pretzels, as a snack before you practice. Probably most importantly, stretch!!!

I am getting quad cramps toward the end of interval workouts. I don't seem to get them as much in distance work. One of my favorite workouts is 25 x 66 yds on 2 minutes. The first ten are usually 50 sec and then I slow to 55. I start cramping on the 20th rep. It happens on push off when the quads want to lock up and also the calfs a bit less. It ends up ending my workout. I notice that if I extend the rest interval longer (because I am talking to someone....or just plain stalling), it brings on the cramping earlier and worse. Is a minute rest a no no? Should I lessen the intensity and reduce rest for this workout? Yes I eat bannanas and drink plenty. Why the legs and not the upper body muscles?? When I used to run intervals sometimes I would get chest cramping of all the places, but never the legs!! how ironic. posted by rtodd I used to get cramps like that fairly often too...and foot cramps with the toes all cringed up...ouch!.....your cramps sound very unpleasant and bring back some very painful memories. In addition to the bannanas and water, Are you sure you are doing enough stretching before and after practice? Are you doing enough warmup before the main set? I also noticed that the cramps will almost always hit right after the pushoffs as you said. Maybe if you did some light kicking to warm your legs up more before the main set, and/or some light squats in the weight room beforeworkout that might also help? I wish you the best of luck with it though! Newmastersswimmer

It could just be muscle overexertion, seeing how you are taking care of things like hydration and potassium. You could try backing off the intensity just a bit and see if that makes a difference. I sometimes get cramps in the chest when I am swimming a hard set and I generally just accept that it is the price I pay for working hard. A relaxed 50 usually quells the pain and I return to my previous plan. Quick and easy cure.

Thanks for the tips. I drink ALOT of coffee. I also still take a bit of creatine from the track and weight room days. Maybe that is contributing. I was just wondering if it is a common thing in swimming.

If you drink coffee, the caffine is negating all that water drinking you're doing. Current research says that caffeine is not a diuretic. They tested people who drank water and those who drank coffee. The output was the same. Not true for alcohol and some diet drinks (aspartame, I believe but can't swear to) As a Licensed Nursing Home Administrator, dehydration is a factor we watch very closely. I had bad cramping, especially in cold water when pushing off the wall, I started taking small amounts of prune juice at night and have had relief. If you check the label, you'll see it provides a huge amount of sotassium which is better then sodium for preventing cramping.

I was just wondering if it is a common thing in swimming. I think it's fairly common. I have this issue from time to time, in exactly the same fashion as you do, usually on sprint sets when I am maniacly pushing myself off the walls. Do you normally stretch your calves out before practice?