Every time I swim, around the 35 minute mark my foot(and sometimes my calf) start to cramp, and the only solution seems to float a couple minutes and stretch it out. Even after that I really have to adapt my kick because it feels like it could cramp again at any second.
Does anyone have any idea what causes this, I’ve never had any problems with cramping in any other part of my body. My swim workouts consist of an hour of non-stop swimming and I’m in my late 30’s.
Paul,
I had this exact problem earlier this year. About 30 minutes into the swim, I would get very painful muscle cramps in the arches of my feet. My solution was to go to a local chiro/sports med guy who also happens to be a tri coach/IM kinda guy. After a couple of weekly adjustments, the problem has gone away completely. I certainly make sure to eat plenty of bananas and other smart training foods, but I did that before the problem got solved, so I credit the snap/crackle/pop. I continue to go every week and feel great.
Good luck, it’s a pretty painful thing.
Well I don’t know about a chiropractor to fix a foot cramp but I had the same problem last year and my solution was to integrate much more board work kicking. A simple reason for this cramp is that your muscles in your calves and feet are not accustomed to the the force placed on them when kicking in the swim. Together with biking and running, these muscles are constantly under stain. Integrate 100- 200 of flutter kicks before every swim and you will find your cramps to slowly dissappear.
I agree that running/biking seems to tighten up the calf/foot tendons. I suffered the same problems. Stretching and more kicking seemed to cure, or at least reduce it. I recommend a good set of training fins to help loosen up the ankle. I don’t recommend a kickboard though. They put your body in an abnormal position in the water. Try kicking on your right side with your face in the water, right arm outstretched and left arm at your side. After six kicks, take a breath and a half pull, rotating onto your left side with arms in the opposite position. Repeat rolling every six kicks up and down the pool. Also, do about 1/3 to 1/2 of your kicks on your back, arms overhead and thumbs interlocked. Kicking on the back seems to help loosen/strengthen different areas than just kicking on your front.
I had a similar problem earlier this season. I have a high arch, which seemed to make it worse. One way to help a little bit is to switch strokes from time to time, give it a short rest. What ultimatly helped was when I changed how I was kicking. If you spend the whole time kicking with your feet they are bound to cramp. Try kicking using your legs. Just let your feet act like paddles, and your legs as the engine behind it. I found letting my feet go limp from time to time helped considerably.
I agree with the above post about stretching. I have the same problem with cramping if I don’t stretch my calves after a warmup in the pool. I now do about 300m easy as a warmup and stretch my calves between each 50 or 100.
I had the same thing when I started swimming in Feb. More strecting seemed to help out a lot. I caught a cramp so bad in my calf after swimming that I could not walk for a couple days. Just be careful, they can come on super strong and do damage.