Here’s the deal. I’ve been having issues with leg cramps on the swim, but only if I ride or run prior to swimming. It can hit any part of the leg and is most likely related to fatigue, but unfortunately my swim time is pretty much limited to 7:30-8:30pm on Tues and Thursday evenings with masters. I’m trying to get in most of my runs and rides at lunchtime at the gym across the street from my office, which generally means sacrificing a bit of volume in favour of intensity.
Anyone find any effective “tricks” to recover from a short hard session in under 5 hours? Or do just I have to make sure that those days are “easy” and do the harder efforts on Monday Wednesday Friday?
I can ride at home as well, but it really means that I don’t get on the bike until after 9pm. I’ve tried getting up early to train before the wife and toddler wake up, but that just wakes up the dog, who wakes up the toddler, which pisses off the wife, no matter how early it is (the other day I tried 4:30, didn’t work…)
Usually for me, it happens with introduction of new stress to my legs. I just ignore it or use the pull buoy when I cramp in the pool and in a few weeks the muscles adapt and the cramps become rarer.
Make sure that you’re replacing electrolytes and some glycogen after your run or bike rides.
I have similar issues after a hard bike or run in the AM and a swim over lunch. Inner quad LOCKS UP and I have to curl up in a ball and wait for it to pass.
Solutions I have found = swim on days with no running before hand… from what you posted, probably not feasible.
HOT SHOT = http://www.teamhotshot.com/ - takes some getting used to taste wise, but taken before my swim and I have no issues.
Work sets in with the swim buoy so you don’t have to kick as much.
Work in sets with flippers where you don’t kick, but rather drag your legs kind of like with the swim buoy.
Stop kicking like a swimmer & do more buoy heavy workouts when your legs are beat up. Trained as a distance swimmer, I never had a 6-beat kick to begin with, so cramping in the pool is only a problem for me immediately after really hard run. Thankfully those swims are usually prescribed as long pull sets & this is only a minor problem for me.
Stop kicking like a swimmer & do more buoy heavy workouts when your legs are beat up. Trained as a distance swimmer, I never had a 6-beat kick to begin with, so cramping in the pool is only a problem for me immediately after really hard run. Thankfully those swims are usually prescribed as long pull sets & this is only a minor problem for me.
Well, I’m still a swimmer first and foremost, so that’s not changing. Anything to do with changing swim practice is a non-starter. It’s the other crappy sports that will have to adapt.
Thanks for the suggestions. We might even have some magnesium in the house, I’ll try that tomorrow.
Stop kicking like a swimmer & do more buoy heavy workouts when your legs are beat up. Trained as a distance swimmer, I never had a 6-beat kick to begin with, so cramping in the pool is only a problem for me immediately after really hard run. Thankfully those swims are usually prescribed as long pull sets & this is only a minor problem for me.
I’ve cramped with a pull buoy plenty of times before. Often in reaction to pushing off the wall, but sometimes just from trying to hold those feet in flexion.
Yeah, the cramp doesn’t usually come from flutter kick. I typically feel it either on push offs or dolphin kick / breast kick, which have a larger range of motion and more force than flutter kick.
I was getting some cramps from the push-off in my hamstrings and sometimes in my lower left calf.
The calf thing almost always happened after kick-sets with fins, I seem to have a problem with that. My fix was to stop kicking with fins, I haven’t fixed the root problem yet.
The hamstring problem comes during periods of heavy running. Now I’m not one for strength training but I did do some eccentric hamstring strengthening last spring and summer twice a week. I can go into detail if you would like.
Stop kicking like a swimmer & do more buoy heavy workouts when your legs are beat up. Trained as a distance swimmer, I never had a 6-beat kick to begin with, so cramping in the pool is only a problem for me immediately after really hard run. Thankfully those swims are usually prescribed as long pull sets & this is only a minor problem for me.
Well, I’m still a swimmer first and foremost, so that’s not changing. Anything to do with changing swim practice is a non-starter. It’s the other crappy sports that will have to adapt.
Thanks for the suggestions. We might even have some magnesium in the house, I’ll try that tomorrow.
I was a D1 swimmer, I too appreciate the swimmer first mentality, & I was trying to communicate how I deal with the same problem as a long course triathlete. But as usual, you have the answer to the question you post in the threads you start before you even post them, because you think you are the only one that knows how to swim fast here. So I will stop responding, & you can keep flailing.
Stop kicking like a swimmer & do more buoy heavy workouts when your legs are beat up. Trained as a distance swimmer, I never had a 6-beat kick to begin with, so cramping in the pool is only a problem for me immediately after really hard run. Thankfully those swims are usually prescribed as long pull sets & this is only a minor problem for me.
Well, I’m still a swimmer first and foremost, so that’s not changing. Anything to do with changing swim practice is a non-starter. It’s the other crappy sports that will have to adapt.
Thanks for the suggestions. We might even have some magnesium in the house, I’ll try that tomorrow.
I was a D1 swimmer, I too appreciate the swimmer first mentality, & I was trying to communicate how I deal with the same problem as a long course triathlete. But as usual, you have the answer to the question you post in the threads you start before you even post them, because you think you are the only one that knows how to swim fast here. So I will stop responding, & you can keep flailing.
Really dude? really?
I was simply stating what will remain sacrosanct, vs what I’m willing to change at this time, and by knowing the parameters, people might be able to offer suggestions that might work with my particular scenario. There were several suggestions already that I don’t know about and I’m willing to try.
Besides that, when the hell have I ever said that I’m the only one here who knows how to swim fast? (I’ve repeatedly given props to guys here who are actually fast, unlike me…)
I’m still surprised that folks still think electrolytes are the cause of targeted muscle cramps…
It’s been dis-proven several times over via several studies, no??
I would say you need to make sure you cool-down from your earlier session, and stretch. If you’re doing a hard sessions then sitting at a desk for several hours without this, your legs aren’t going to recover properly.
I never really been a subscriber to the whole electrolyte thing with cramps; mainly because I’ve pretty much only ever got cramps in long or very hilly races, where the neuromuscular fatigue is greater than anything I’ve done in training. The only other time co-incidentally, is not cooling down/stretching and then cramping at my desk!
Stop kicking like a swimmer & do more buoy heavy workouts when your legs are beat up. Trained as a distance swimmer, I never had a 6-beat kick to begin with, so cramping in the pool is only a problem for me immediately after really hard run. Thankfully those swims are usually prescribed as long pull sets & this is only a minor problem for me.
Well, I’m still a swimmer first and foremost, so that’s not changing. Anything to do with changing swim practice is a non-starter. It’s the other crappy sports that will have to adapt.
Thanks for the suggestions. We might even have some magnesium in the house, I’ll try that tomorrow.
If you try the magnesium it should not hurt, but obviously it may not help. I know some people it has significantly helped with the muscle cramp, but I think they said it took a few days of taking it before they stopped having re-occurring issues, so taking it 1 time may not keep you from cramping that day. When they stopped taking it the cramps came back, so for them it did help, but I know for me (mind you I only seem to cramp in the pool and that is not common) it didn’t appear to do much.
If you’re a swimmer first then why are you running and biking before swimming? It’s SBR for a reason. There is no way that your legs won’t feel the impact and fatigue from running and biking first. A lot of times I’m still feeling a hard trainer ride or run from the night before then next morning in the pool.
I make a point of not swimming after running or biking. Don’t get me wrong, it can be done, but performance in the pool will not be at your normal standard.
