any ideas?? just curious…water was 61
How long was the swim? When did the cramps occcur? Had you consumed excessive water for the 24 hours leading up to the event? Could be a shortage of electrolytes.
Oh man, I had that in my calf during a 2.5k OW swim race - ended up backstroking at least 100m to sort it out. I stopped aggressively pointing my toes. I used to dance ballet so I really didn’t need to anyways. People will say “dehydration”, “low potassium - eat a banana” yadda yadda yadda. I think it’s malarky.
What you need to do is learn to RELAX. Seriously. You need to learn to feel the onset of a cramp and to tell your body to relax itself. I still get calf cramps reasonably often, but the main thing I have learned how to swim through them. Key words work well, as does visualization. 90% of sport is mental - time to train your mind.
AP
where you in a wetsuit?
It could be the lack of regular push-offs from the pool wall. Every time you push off you’ll stretch/use your leg muscles slightly differently than while you are swimming. I think we get used to that in the pool so when we hit the lake, sometimes our legs cramp.
-C
“What you need to do is learn to RELAX. Seriously. You need to learn to feel the onset of a cramp and to tell your body to relax itself. I still get calf cramps reasonably often, but the main thing I have learned how to swim through them.”
I think that’s good advice. While overcompensating for tired arms during a fly set Monday, my left calf got a nasty cramp (still hurts). I knew I was pointing my toes, I knew I was kicking too hard, but I kept going anyway.
yes wetsuit
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I think these wetsuits are sometimes just too tight especially after a run!
il try a bunch of eloctrlytes
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From the huge detail that you’ve given us regarding your swimming cramps, I think that you think the cramps were from cold water. That’s a possibility, yes.