Leg Cramp Question

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

1_T_Submariner

Contributor
Messages
3,010
Reaction score
12
Location
Pontiac, IL
# of dives
500 - 999
I was just wondering about the causes of leg cramps. I commonly get a leg cramp about 30 min into my second dive of the day. After streching it out it goes away and I can continue the dive sometimes for another hour. Water temp below the Thermalcline is 40-50 degrees F depending on time of year. Second dive is usually shallower/warmer 60-80 degrees F.
I have tried the following to prevent them.
1. Hydration - Plenty of water.
2. Potasium - Natural form Banana and Orange juice in the morning before going to dive site.
3. Exercise - Not on Diving days 1 hour of Eliptical trainer Heart rate at target for 45 min. I get about 4-5 workouts in over a 7 day period.

Since switching from a 7mm wetsuit to a drysuit. I havn't experienced the cramp but, I only have 4 dives in it.

Could my wet suit be causing them? or do I just need to get my gym more? Different excersizes?
 
Hi _T_Submariner,

It sounds like you're done many of the smart things, but sadly without good result. In addition to continuing your present actions, you may wish to try a gentle stretching and warm up of the leg muscles just prior to a dive.

However, based on your description I much suspect that cold is the primary culprit here. Stay with the drysuit as long as it's appropriate for the ambient water temps and see if it continues to help alleviate the problem.

If the cramps return, the next step is a change of fins. Very heavy or stiff fins can contribute to leg cramps.

The chances of avoiding cramps is quite good if you follow all of the above.

Let us know how you make out.

Regards,

DocVikingo
 
I had a similar problem. In my case it didn't matter whether I was diving wet or dry. Like you I was getting plenty of general exercise and nutrition and hydration were ok. But, after some experimentation I discovered I needed specific exercise to develop and maintain the muscles that were cramping. Now that I use that targeted exercise I seldom cramp.

So, if you are similar, a visit to a knowledgable trainer or PT type to develop a set of targeted exercises may be worth it.

Good Fortune.
 
Thanks all for the advice. TandSM great articles. I will try some of the exercises. And stay with the drysuit.
 
ArcticDiver:
I had a similar problem. In my case it didn't matter whether I was diving wet or dry. Like you I was getting plenty of general exercise and nutrition and hydration were ok. But, after some experimentation I discovered I needed specific exercise to develop and maintain the muscles that were cramping. Now that I use that targeted exercise I seldom cramp.

So, if you are similar, a visit to a knowledgable trainer or PT type to develop a set of targeted exercises may be worth it.

Good Fortune.

I agree. Exercise-specific muscle fatigue is the most likely explanation for your cramping. Going to a trainer or PT is a good option, but an equally good (and cheaper) option is simply swimming/snorkeling with fins in a local pool.
 
1_T_Submariner:
I was just wondering about the causes of leg cramps. I commonly get a leg cramp about 30 min into my second dive of the day. After stretching it out it goes away and I can continue the dive sometimes for another hour. Water temp below the Thermocline is 40-50 degrees F depending on time of year. Second dive is usually shallower/warmer 60-80 degrees F.
I have tried the following to prevent them.
1. Hydration - Plenty of water.
2. Potassium - Natural form Banana and Orange juice in the morning before going to dive site.
3. Exercise - Not on Diving days 1 hour of Elliptical trainer Heart rate at target for 45 min. I get about 4-5 workouts in over a 7 day period.

Since switching from a 7mm wet suit to a dry suit. I haven't experienced the cramp but, I only have 4 dives in it.

Could my wet suit be causing them? or do I just need to get my gym more? Different excesses?

I have a detailed article on this somewhere that also mentions magnesium in addition to potassium.

Also, the text for my NAUI Master Scuba Diver course mentions letting your ankles just "flop" whichever way the water move them instead of maintaining stiff ankles. It also mentions that curling your toes while finning contributes to cramps.

You also might consider the "Fitness for Diving" book by Cameron L. Martz. Cameron is dive, professional fitness trainer and triathlete.

The book can be downloaded in Adobe Acrobat format from www.divefitness.com.

Chapter 14 of this book is titled "Preventing Foot and Calf Cramps". Cameron visits ScubaBoard from time to time.

The Adobe Acrobat version that I bought is $19.95 while the soft cover version is $29.95 plus shipping.
 
Electrolyte imbalance will certainly cause muscle cramping. However, the most likely explanation is muscle fatigue secondary to being out of shape. General aerobic exercise is certainly a health benefit, but it is unlikely to prevent activity-specific muscle fatigue and resultant muscle cramping. The best prevention is exercise SPECIFC to the activity associated with cramping. For SCUBA that would swimming and, more specifically, kicking with fins.

If need be we can explore the biochemical explanation of muscle fatigue and cramping, but it really isn't that interesting. Save youself time and money by heading to the pool for an occasional SCUBA-specifc workout. Not only will it count toward cramp-free SCUBA, but it will earn heart healthy points too.

-from a physician/SCUBA instructor/athlete
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

Back
Top Bottom