swimming issues

biomed32

hey all, I am currently training for a 5k charity swim and I am having real trouble with my toes cramping, so much so that my swims are being cut short. Two toes are unaffected, the big toe and the one beside it.
I have tried numerous methods of avoiding this including
- Gradually increasing the number of lenghts I do.
- Diet change, increasing fruit and vegtable and fluid consumption
- Suplements cod liver oil and magnesium
- Swimming technique in the area of foot position while swimming
- streching before entering the pool, including streching and massaging feet to get the blood flowing better
Nothing has worked and Im at the point of attempting kinesio tape to splint the soles of my feet to support the muscles in the hope this might improve things.
Does anyone have any other suggestions that I could try, and has anyone used kinesio tape for this purpose

lorcan122

Try eat a few more bananas they are great source of potassium and cramps are cause by a lack of potassium.

Also your legs must be very tight when you are swimming, when teaching young children swimming we tell them to point their toes, this is relay beneficial for them, however not so much for adults. As they are swimming a lot more and faster, when we point our toes our whole hind leg tightens and is therefore straight, so your muscles will quickly become fatigue and tired hence causing the cramps. You will normally notice this when you are pushing off a wall or in a fast set.

To solve it stand on one leg on the bank, and just let you ankle go floppy and do small kicks, however you should notice that your ankle is tight and it shows that you are not relaxed. So the main problem is to relax your ankle when swimming. I would try kicking on your back with flippers and just let your hole leg and ankle relax and let your feet flick through the water, your ankle should bend with the water when kicking don't try and resist or will get a cramp. Start off slow and watch your feet kick, you will also kick faster and move faster if you let your ankles relax. Hope this helps.

banjobongo

also try to vary your FC (Front crawl) with some breaststroke, this is putting your feet into a totally differnet position and will give you relief. My guess is that these are just teh teething problems you will experience while you get swim fit then the problem will probably just....go away!

promethius

good on you for taking this on, excellent goal to have

i'd stop for a second and try to relax a little bit, sounds like you're getting in a spin about this. one of the most common things less experienced swimmers or people trying for long distances do is to get in and fight the water, determined to beat it. they are very physically tense and rigid. this wastes lots of energy and they tire quickly and can also get cramped up in hands, calves and feet.

to help relax a bit, i'd advise you to do some of your sessions with a pull buoy whch is a float that goes between the legs and keeps them up in the water. this means you don't need to kick and can relax your lower body a bit while you get used to your new training schedule

bananna advice is good too.

if after a few weeks you're not finding improvements there could be an underlying mucle problem that a physio would need to look at.

what's your swim experience before this and what kind of sessions are you doing??

biomed32

Hey, thanks for the help. I have been swimming for the last three years and admittidly my technique has a lot to be desired. I barely kick my legs to be honest although I generally swim between 2-2.5k a session 3 days a week and on weekends in the summer I do open water swimming down at Sandycove so I like to think im fairly competant in the water although the style is something to be desired!

lorcan122

biomed32 wrote: »

Hey, thanks for the help. I have been swimming for the last three years and admittidly my technique has a lot to be desired. I barely kick my legs to be honest although I generally swim between 2-2.5k a session 3 days a week and on weekends in the summer I do open water swimming down at Sandycove so I like to think im fairly competant in the water although the style is something to be desired!

That would make sense why you are camping a bit, if you are not kicking as much, and presumably you are trying to stay in a streamline position when swimming front crawl. So what is happening is that you are tensing your leg to keep it straight, hence your muscles becoming fatigued and cramping, try to kick more often and relax your ankles.