I suffered from severe calf cramps during my first IM swim and (obviously) it really affected the rest of my day.
I’m hoping to prevent that next go around.
How?
First step is to accept it was not a nutrition issue.
Then two options most likely to work:
- Swim slower
- Improve your swimming fitness
I suffered from severe calf cramps during my first IM swim and (obviously) it really affected the rest of my day.
I’m hoping to prevent that next go around.
How?
Do more open water swimming, in which you go longer distances without flip turns (meaning you keep your toes pointed continuously for a long time).
I have found doing some dorsiflexing of the feet every so often during the swim helped a lot with the cramping.
Do more open water swimming, in which you go longer distances without flip turns (meaning you keep your toes pointed continuously for a long time).
Hmmm… this is interesting. Unfortunately this isn’t really an option for me. I’m stuck at my SCY pool. I have always wondered if having my toes pointed for an extended period was an issue.
First step is to accept it was not a nutrition issue.
Accepted and agreed.
First step is to accept it was not a nutrition issue.
It could actually be a nutrition issue. What if the OP was dehydrated? It happens to me. Unlikely at the start of an Ironman, but still possible.
First step is to accept it was not a nutrition issue.
It could actually be a nutrition issue. What if the OP was dehydrated? It happens to me. Unlikely at the start of an Ironman, but still possible.
If it was nutrition, why wouldn’t the cramps have appeared in his shoulders or Lats.where most of the work is being performed?
Do more open water swimming, in which you go longer distances without flip turns (meaning you keep your toes pointed continuously for a long time).
Hmmm… this is interesting. Unfortunately this isn’t really an option for me. I’m stuck at my SCY pool. I have always wondered if having my toes pointed for an extended period was an issue.
Not fun, but I guess you could do <25yd lengths where you turn without touching the wall, focusing on keeping your toes pointed.
I swim like a rock, and I’m prone to leg and foot cramps while swimming (no problems ever when running or biking). For me, it’s definitely swimming fitness. If I swim less regularly, I get cramps more often and earlier. Pointing toes is a dangerous exercise for me when I haven’t been swimming much for a while.
Cheers,
malte
First step is to accept it was not a nutrition issue.
It could actually be a nutrition issue. What if the OP was dehydrated? It happens to me. Unlikely at the start of an Ironman, but still possible.
If it was nutrition, why wouldn’t the cramps have appeared in his shoulders or Lats.where most of the work is being performed?
Have you ever had a lat cramp? How about a shoulder cramp? Yeah, me neither. Cramps happen for a variety of issues. For me, my calves cramp in the pool when I’m super low on hydration. My lats or shoulders remain fine, even though they are doing most of the work. Saying the OP’s cramps were definitely not related to nutrition is foolish.
Nick you make a fair point, and I think the OP should definitely be aware of hydration issues. But the problems from extended toe pointing is very common and the more likely culprit.
As it turns out: I am at my desk right now. My toes have been pointed for the last 10 minutes. I have 5 minutes to go for 15. I have done this almost everyday for years.
If it was nutrition, why wouldn’t the cramps have appeared in his shoulders or Lats.where most of the work is being performed?
That’s the million dollar question right there, figure it out and you’ll have nailed down the cause of cramps and maybe the fix. why do open water swimmers cramp in the their calves and hamstrings but never their shoulders or arms?
- Calf muscles due to different structure or mitochondrial density are more reactive to changes in electrolytes, or hydration than upper body muscles are?
- Whatever the hell the central governor is has been deeply programmed that stopping bipedal locomotion makes the person rest, swimming is an anomaly to that programing?
I don’t think either of those are necessarily true, but there’s nothing to suggest they aren’t. No cramping mechanism seems to account for open water swimming and lower body cramps, but I wouldn’t totally toss out any of those mechanisms as not being a partial answer either.
I’ve been open water swimming and coaching on deck for 13 years now. Some people get cramps in the pool, some do in open water too. I haven’t really come to any big conclusion as to why that is or what can be done to stop it, other than the better shape they are in and the easier the practice is for them the less they cramp up.
My suspicion on open water calf cramping is the same as AJTHOMAS, actively extending the toes instead of letting them relax. Though I have no data to back that up, just a hunch.
Only time I’ve had cramps swimming was when I did harder sets than usually combined with surprise, surprise, kicking more. The workout was only 60-75 minutes long… no way hydration was an issue.
I used to make ti through 2-1/2 hour workouts in high school on a single water bottle… no way I was several dehydrated.
If you ask a muscle to do something it’s not accustomed to, and do it for a very long time, it will cramp up when you overstimulate the muscles for too long when they are already fatigued.
When I’m well trained, I don;t get cramps. When I’m under trained for something I do get cramps. I’ve been far less hydrated when I haven’t cramped, than when I have.
The fact that you can get muscle cramps in activities less than 1 hour in length tells me that it’s not nutrition related at all.
Heat and nutrition can be contributors as if they are off, the physical overhead to perform at a given output increases. If hot weather, you are working harder than your pace or power output will tell you.
Great thread. Only time I’ve ever gotten cramps while swimming was near the end of my last 2 IM swims. I doubt I was dehydrated, but the pointed toe theory makes a lot of sense. I never do race distance OWS in training, so it makes sense I would experience this issue near the end of the swim.
Were you wearing a wetsuit?
Were you wearing a wetsuit?
Yes.
I doubt I was dehydrated, but the pointed toe theory makes a lot of sense.
Wetsuit swim, so not kicking very hard, toes pointed for an extended period (no walls to push off of)… sounds reasonable that this could be an issue.
If indeed this is the cause, what to do to try and prevent?
Improve kicking strength? Flexibility?
I’ve done probably 100 races and had a horrible calf cramp once. I attributed it to my my wetsuit "pulling " my calf up. Since then, I make sure my calf is in the “normal” position. No problems since.
Sit on the floor with your legs extended directly in front of you and toes pointed up toward the ceiling. Now, point your toes towards the wall. Watch what happens to the calf muscles when you point them. They contract in a manner that is not duplicated in any other activity. Now consider, if you keep your toes pointed for 1 hr, that means your calf is contracted for 1 hr = cramps.