Calf cramp while swimming?

kingQuez

Was over at the pool tonight and towards the end of the hour decided I was going to try and sprint a length. I'm not much of a swimmer, and I've only been going consistently now for 4-5 weeks but have finally gotten the hang of the front crawl. 3/4 of the way down the length my calf cramped up and id to do a bit of stretching in the pool to calm it down. It feels fine now, but I was a bit surprized at how quickly it tightened up... its never been a problem during any of the training runs i've done for the marathon, and gets stretched quite regularly. Is this normal when you swim?

DAVE_K

I've got this swimming sometimes.............what I've done that helps if you're mid-swim and can't get to somewhere to hold onto is to try and peel your toes back towards your knee - i.e. pushing your heel out and stretching out the muscle

tunney

Did you run the during the day before you went swimming?
Where you hydrated?
Do you push off the wall using your toes?
Was it a 25m pool?

kingQuez

tunney wrote: »

Did you run the during the day before you went swimming?
Where you hydrated?
Do you push off the wall using your toes?
Was it a 25m pool?

Hey tunney,
1. Didn't run that day
2. Think I was hydrated enough
3. Did push off the wall with toes
4. Was a 33m pool

Killgore Trout

I get it occasionally toward the end of a session when putting the hammer down or sometimes kicking off the wall - i guess as i'm getting tired. Never get anything like it when runing or cycling even though the legs are being used more strenuously.

I find it gets easier to swim off with experience

Poncherello

kingQuez wrote: »

Hey tunney,
1. Didn't run that day
2. Think I was hydrated enough
3. Did push off the wall with toes
4. Was a 33m pool

Came across this thread. Cramped up in the pool tonight after running 5K beforehand. Happened just as I was pushing off the wall and felt something go in my calf. Was definitely cramp but possibly pulled something also. Can still feel it now. I have never cramped in my calf before so dont really know if I should still be feeling it. Quite worried as have Kenmare Sat week.
Anyone experience this before ?

Call Me Jimmy

Not being the fittest person lately, I was regularly swimming in the sea during the 'summer' and a couple of times I got a calf cramp and they were pretty severe. Not sure what caused them, it wasn't like I was killing myself with the swimming or anything...

MCOS

Poncherello wrote: »

Came across this thread. Cramped up in the pool tonight after running 5K beforehand. Happened just as I was pushing off the wall and felt something go in my calf. Was definitely cramp but possibly pulled something also. Can still feel it now. I have never cramped in my calf before so dont really know if I should still be feeling it. Quite worried as have Kenmare Sat week.
Anyone experience this before ?

Yeah ME! Its the bane of my life in the pool actually. Thankfully haven't had one in over 5 weeks but the... I haven't been swimming in over 5 weeks :rolleyes:

Seriously though, I've had a couple of humdingers of cramp and they usually happen when I kick off the wall too right at the top of the calf. Last one I got was so bad I was doubled over and it took a good 10 minutes before I could put my heel on the floor. Had me out for a few days too. I've never pinpointed the reason. It doesn't occur in OW. I've cramped in the quads in all 3 Marathons I've run.

It could be just tired legs and the explosion of the kick off the wall throwing a tiny bit of lactic into the calves for fun.

It could be dehydration.

It could be lack of things like potassium, calcium, magnesium etc..

Sometimes I can feel the cramp coming (usually mid session and with increased intensity) and I just back off the intensity completely and it abates and I can finish the session.

Poncherello how is the calf today? Take it easy, massage it, drink loads of water and again... take it easy!

onimpulse

tunney wrote: »

Did you run the during the day before you went swimming?
Where you hydrated?
Do you push off the wall using your toes?
Was it a 25m pool?

Tunnys post give's you all the things to watch for... any time its happened me I've generally been running the day before, and I always kick off with my toes. Dehydration also causes cramp.

Try to keep your feet & calf very lose if it happens - if you can stop & stretch all the better but that may not be an option in the sea for example

Poncherello

Yeah hopefully I just got a bad one, it was damn sore and can still defintely feel it but hopefully it will ease away over next few days.

Its gas I come from a swimming background and have never cramped in the pool or OW in my life. The parents used to always warn me about cramp when I would swim in the sea on holidays. Secretely I always thought I was such a strong swimmer that if I cramped in 3 limbs I would still be able to make it back to shore ...

I'm not so sure now !