Fighting leg cramps

[Kriterian]

I recently got into a ten round fight with leg cramps (calf muscle) during a shore dive. Right when I was able to get the left fin grasped and my toes pointed up, I got another cramp in my right leg. At the time I was swimming back to shore and the seas were getting rough. My buddy ended up having to drag me onto shore, not an easy task for the little lady.

My questions are:

What are the main causes of calf cramps?

• Dehydration
• Lack of stretching exercise before exertion
• Fins too tight or not flexible enough (I've heard this from several people)
• Plan ol' lack of muscle work in that area

How can they be prevented?

• Stretching routine?
• Food/Water intake

How to stop them once they start?

• I know the "grasp fin tip and pull toes toward sky" method but are there any others?
• The above method didn't seem to work very well any way, since as soon as I resumed swimming, the problem returned.

Thanks for any help, and I'm sorry if this is in the wrong sub-forum.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

The causes of cramps you mentioned do not fit into my scenerios for cramps. I used to cramp all the time, ate bananas like crazy and drank lots of water. Once I changed to jetfins (nice and stiff) they pretty much subsided. I thought for a while it was my wetsuit too tight in the leg area. But a few dives ago, while diving in skins I got a pretty good cramp. I do not know the reason. Good luck finding an answer.

 

[WVDiver]

Dehydration is the big one. Drink your share of water and stay away from diuretics (caffeine related drinks like coffee, tea, pop, and no alcohol) at least a couple of days prior to diving. Get regular exercise, the best one is swimming, I like to do laps at the local pool. Bannana's can never hurt, orange juice is a good source of potassium.

Stretching is a really good idea.

I have heard a lot of people say that a good pair of split fins helped them.

Also your buddy can help you with a cramp. Just put your foot into their chest like you are going to push them away and let them push back against your foot or massage the area with the cramp. It helps a lot to have something to push on but in the water you only push yourself away from whatever you are trying to push against. Your buddy can hold your foot with one hand and your calf with the other and push for you this creates the levearge. And as hard as it is to do, the best thing is to relax the muscle and the cramp will ease up.

When you go to the pool to swim do it with your fins on. Get your muscles used to the workout.

Just some ideas.

I always stay away from the diuretics and drink the water a couple days prior to the dive. It elminates 98% of the problem.

 

[Diver0001]

I recently got into a ten round fight with leg cramps (calf muscle) during a shore dive. Right when I was able to get the left fin grasped and my toes pointed up, I got another cramp in my right leg. At the time I was swimming back to shore and the seas were getting rough. My buddy ended up having to drag me onto shore, not an easy task for the little lady.

My questions are:

What are the main causes of calf cramps?

• Dehydration
• Lack of stretching exercise before exertion
• Fins too tight or not flexible enough (I've heard this from several people)
• Plan ol' lack of muscle work in that area

How can they be prevented?

• Stretching routine?
• Food/Water intake

How to stop them once they start?

• I know the "grasp fin tip and pull toes toward sky" method but are there any others?
• The above method didn't seem to work very well any way, since as soon as I resumed swimming, the problem returned.

Thanks for any help, and I'm sorry if this is in the wrong sub-forum.

I don't get leg cramps, never have. I attribute that to regularly cycling. I do see it a lot in students, though, and I think the reason is a combination of poor muscle tone, holding stress in your muscles and working too hard.

To fight it you need to improve muscle tone to start. Cycling seems to work but so will regular diving. 2nd pay attention to your breathing and learn to relax your muscles on the exhale. 3rd, if you're using a flutter kick (or any other kick for that matter) learn to kick and glide. Get moving, and then glide along, then kick some more and glide etc. That does two things. It will improve your air consumption and it will reduce stress on your leg muscles. Finally, learning another kick (like a frog kick) which uses a different muscle group will help. Then you'll have two kicks and you can divide the total effort over more muscles.

R..

 

[CameronMartz]

Kriterian,

I have an article (actually an updated excerpt from "Fitness for Divers") on preventing foot and calf cramps at DIVEFitness.com, though the idea for preventing cramping in any muscle group is the same. As Rototurner said, most exercise-induced cramping has to do with over-working a muscle. Both strengthening and stretching have been shown to reduce the incidence of cramping over time. Stretching also seems to have short-term benefits, meaning that stretching the offending muscles right before getting into the water can help.

While hydration and electrolytes are certainly important to good health, these are myths that persist even within the fitness industry. Research going back 30 years has repeatedly shown that neither influence exercise-induced cramping. Again, muscle fatigue seems to be the primary trigger. Also, some people seem more prone to cramping than others, regardless of fitness level.

For divers, cold is another trigger. Make sure your exposure protection is appropriate to the temperature of the water. Shivering is a surefire way to set you up for a battle with cramps, as you get a triple-witching of fatigue, contraction, and reduced blood supply.

I also find the advice to use frog kick with stiff fins to be on the money. Frog kick's kick-and-glide cycle allows you to use the entire leg for power with a nice, low effort recovery. There are many other benefits to this kick technique, but I'll leave those for other posts. <g>

As far as releasing cramps, you must stretch the muscle to get the cramp to release. There is no other trick to it, and sometimes, cramps can seem to come in salvos like you've experienced.

Give stretching and conditioning a try, and let us know how it goes!

Cameron

 

[starfish365]

I also suffer from leg cramps when diving and foot cramps sometimes also when not diving.

for the diving part - I tried a pair of jet fins (not split) yesterday and for the first time I was able to surface swim with no cramping or tired muscles - wish someone had suggested using these fins at the begining - would have saved me two years of pain.

I'm also taking potassium supplements now on a daily basis - 100mg time released - so I'm attacking it from both ends so to speak - I still have to check with my doctor about the supplements but everything I read says RDA is 5500mg or so a day...I'm no way near that.

Try a set of different fins and see if they make a difference - I borrowed a pair from my LDS - now I think I have a friend with a pair he doesn't use that I may borrow from him. Cheaper than buying for now.