How to Prevent Muscle Cramps While Swimming

by Olivier Poirier-Leroy of yourswimlog.com

Muscle cramps are a common condition experienced by competitive swimmers over the course of their swimming career. Here is what you need to know about preventing muscle cramps for swimmers.

They are the worst…

They jump up and bite you sometimes out of nowhere, leaving you helpless and gasping for air and your leg as you hang off of the side of the pool or the lane rope.

The ones in the toes and heel aren’t so bad, but a calf or hamstring cramp?

Sweet… chlorinated… molasses.

After gingerly stretching it out on the pool deck you slide back into the water and do the rest of your workout at half speed for fear of firing off another wave of paralyzing muscle contractions.

During my age group days, coach would always emphasize drinking lots of water (even though most swimmers don’t always understand the need to do so as they don’t notice how much they are sweating while in the water), while making sure that we ate lots of bananas in order to maintain potassium levels.

Gotta keep them electrolytes and nutrients up!

But with a handful of bananas under my belt already that day, and half a 4L of water already down, something always seemed to be missing in the explanation that it was just dehydration.

The reality is…

We don’t know for sure what it is that causes muscle cramps.

But we have a pretty good idea.

How to Prevent Muscle Cramps While Swimming

The Reasons Why Swimmers Cramp Up

The reality is that science hasn’t quite figured out the exact reasons for why muscle cramps occur. Although they are very common, not just with swimmers but across every other sport as well, they are poorly understood, and theories for why they happen are from anecdotal experience.

From a mountain of studies that have sought to figure out the root cause of muscle cramps, there are two theories that are discussed most frequently:

1. Dehydration

Coaches are always on their swimmers to drink more water. And for good reason—even just being dehydrated by a couple percentage points can lead to a swift drop in performance.

Muscle cramps are thought to happen because athletes, while performing peak intensity exercise, are losing more water than they ingesting, and thereby sensitizing nerves in your muscles.

Here is a nice sciencey definition of what happens next:

The resulting contracture of the interstitial space increases the mechanical pressure on select motor nerve endings and finally results in exercise-associated muscle cramping.

As a result, it’s thought that athletes and those who work in hot and humid conditions, and are prone to sweat lots and thereby lose a whole bunch of electrolytes, are more likely to incur cramping:

But what about those times that were fully hydrated, in a cool swimming pool, and you still felt your hamstring seize up on you?

And if it were as simple as fluid replacement, it doesn’t explain that 69% of athletes in this study who took a carbohydrate-fluid that precisely matched sweat loss still experienced muscle cramps.

Well, there’s a theory for that too.

2. Muscle Fatigue

It wasn’t too long ago that I did a heavy session in the gym doing max weight for numerous sets of back squats. In my swim, which immediately followed the lifting, my legs were perpetually on the verge of cramping up.

Each push-off I could feel some twitchiness in my quads and hamstrings, and for the duration of my swim I took it easy on the walls. (It also meant not kicking and swimming with fins. Boo-urns.)

In other words, the muscles in my legs that I had been using in the gym kept firing and contracting.

Which leads us into the second theory–cramps happen because of straight-up muscle fatigue.

Numerous studies have shown cramping to happen towards the end of competition when the muscle is already shortened and tired.

Which, if you have experienced something similar to my squat example above, makes intuitive sense.

After all, you probably also notice that you cramp up more often at the beginning of the season, after a long layoff, or during particularly trying stretches of training when you are either not in great shape, or fatigued.

How to Prevent & Deal with Muscle Cramps

Because there is no generally agreed upon source of muscle cramps, there is no singular course of treatment and prevention.

Treatments such as cryotherapy, massage, pickle juice, sports drinks, and more all lack experimental research.

1. Stay hydrated.

Even though there is a lack of direct evidence of cramps to dehydration, there is—as mentioned previously—a drop in performance that happens when swimmers aren’t hydrated.

Don’t just wait until you get to practice to start crushing water. Swimmers who drink a liter of water 60 minutes or so prior to practice or competition can be assured that the fluids will be fully absorbed and available.

2. Add salt to your water jug.

If you are one of those super sweaty athletes (and I am one too, no judgement here), the National Athletic Trainer’s Association recommends you add 0.3 to 0.7g of salt to your water jug in order to help you avoid cramping up.

3. Stretch it out.

Gentle stretching on the affected area can help to soothe they soreness and immediate pain. Soreness can last for a few minutes or up to a few days. Light passive stretching makes it go away faster.

4. Dial up your intensity accordingly.

My mistake with my squat-swim combo was going heavy on my legs after having taken a little sabbatical from the gym. Do I regret that workout? Not necessarily—but knowing that it would ruin my swim afterwards would I have done it with the same intensity? Probably not.

Cramps tend to happen when we are pushing ourselves harder than normal, or when we are going too hard compared to our training experience. Which isn’t necessarily the worst thing for an elite athlete who is constantly trying to probe the reaches of their limits, but perhaps kind of pointless for someone who is simply going to the pool to get into better shape.

The Takeaway

There’s no total guarantee that if you drink lots of water and escalate your training at a reasonable pace that you will never experience a muscle cramp again.

However, if you do those two things you will cut down on them significantly, and at the very least, will reap the performance benefits that come with being a full hydrated swimmer.

As for me, I am back off to the squat rack to give that thing another go.

Do you Have an Elite Nutrition Mindset?

By: Anita Nall Richesson, 1992 Olympic Gold, Silver & Bronze, Nutrition & Wellness Expert

What makes an athlete elite? I haven’t met an athlete yet that doesn’t want to be at the top of their game, the tip of the spear, the best of the best. So, how do you get there? There are many components to success in sport.  We are all familiar with attributes like hard work, determination, commitment, dedication and focus. But what else could help take your performance to another level? The elite athlete is always seeking new ways to perfect and grow in sport and improve his/her performance.

After competing at the highest level in sport and winning gold, silver and bronze in the 1992 Summer Olympic Games in swimming, I spent nearly a decade of my life struggling with chronic health problems. I tried everything in order to regain my health and compete successfully at a high level, however, it wasn’t until I learned about the powerful role nutrition can play in our health that my healing began.   Nutrition is a subtle, yet powerful, contributing factor to success. I only say subtle because it can be hard to measure its exact impact at times. If utilized properly, nutrition can be THE THING that takes your performance to another level. It can also hinder performance and lay the foundation for illness, low energy and slow recovery time. I’ve completely transformed my personal eating habits and facilitated that transformation in others. It is the elite athletes I work with who are looking for an edge and see that nutrition is one area in which to do this.

There are 3 keys to having an elite mindset with your nutrition plan. Adopting this mindset and having a new awareness about the impact food can have on your performance will reward you greatly.

1. “LET FOOD BE THY MEDICINE”

Hippocrates, one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine, said it best. However, in the land of quick fix prescriptions, grab and go foods, and diet book best sellers it can be a hard motto to live by. Linking what you eat with how you feel is the first step in letting food be thy medicine. Once you become aware, you may soon realize that certain foods give you headaches, possibly increase your eczema and/or contribute to sinus congestion for example. After you take on the mindset of connecting what you eat with how you feel, you are ready for action.

Action: Stay on the perimeter of the grocery store. The most nutritious foods are located there. Foods like fruits, vegetables, proteins, nuts and seeds contribute to high energy, quicker recovery time and decreased illness as opposed to the boxed foods that fill the inside isles.

2. FOOD IS EITHER ENHANCING YOUR PERFORMANCE OR HINDERING IT.

Everything you put in your mouth impacts performance. Understanding this will give you the power to choose foods that contribute to your performance goals.

PERFORMANCE ENHANCING FOODS PERFORMANCE HINDERING FOODS
Eggs, Ham, Green Vegetables Sugary Breakfast foods like Pop Tarts, Pastries & Donuts
Raw nuts & seeds Sugary, super salted nuts & seeds
Baked Potato Potato Chips
Fruit Based Desserts w/ minimal sugar or honey as sweetener Pies, Ice Cream, Candy
Oatmeal Dry, sugary cereals
Grilled Chicken Fried Chicken

3. FAILURE TO PREPARE IS PREPARING TO FAIL.

If you think about your meal WHEN you get hungry, you are already behind the

nutrition 8-ball. Research shows us that once we get hungry, our decision-making capacity to choose healthy nutritious food dramatically decreases. Set yourself up for success and create a general meal plan for your day and/or week. Here is a sample day (Times, schedules & food requirements vary, this is just 1 possible example)

TIME OF DAY FOOD SUGGESTION
Pre- Morning Practice Oatmeal w/ Fruit & Walnuts & 100% Maple Syrup (1 tsp)
Post- Morning Practice 1-2 Breakfast Sandwiches:   Egg, Sausage & Spinach
Lunch Quinoa w/ Grilled Chicken, Black Beans, Broccoli & Salsa
Snack Banana or Apple w/ Almond Butter & Beef Jerky Slices
(Be sure its doesn’t contain MSG)
Pre-Afternoon Practice Coconut milk yogurt w/Chia seeds + 2-3 slices of turkey breast
Post-Practice Recovery shake:   Protein powder*+ Fruit + Almond or Coconut Milk
Dinner Crockpot pulled pork over baked red potatoes & carrots

*The amount and kind of protein varies and is based on body weight and individual needs

Don’t wait until you have a health crisis like I did to adopt an elite mindset with food. Act now! Get your family, your teammates and your coaches on board!

Stay tuned for more articles on developing your elite mindset with food and other wellness strategies that can enhance your performance. I will continue to give you practical tips utilized by many of the elite athletes I work with in their quest to be #1!


BIOGRAPHY

Setting the swimming world ablaze at the young age of fifteen with 2 world records in one day propelled Anita into the fast lane of succes

s. After swimming for the cycle (gold, silver, and bronze) in the 1992 Olympic Summer Games in Barcelona, many health challenges hampered her attempts at returning to an Olympic level. Challenged by a series of “mystery illnesses” that lasted a decade after the Olympics, Anita rediscovered health through food. Traditional medicine’s failed healing attempts drove her towards a personal quest for wellness and a passionate understanding of the healing power of food. Her profound experiences with illness, healing and professional athletics have given her a unique perspective she shares with clients.Anita Nall Richesson After completing her undergraduate degree in Communications and Spanish from Arizona State University she pursued holistic nutrition education at Southwest Institute of Healing Arts in Tempe, Arizona. Anita is a Certified Holistic Nutrition Specialist, Certified Life Coach and accomplished motivational speaker. Anita is also an elite member of the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

Anita coaches clients on how to become the CWO (Chief Wellness Officer) of their own lives through her company Feed Me Anita. She completed 3 NFL seasons as Nutrition Consultant for the Jacksonville Jaguars NFL Football Team. She works with various elite professional athletes including UFC fighters, boxers & world-class swimmers as well as major corporations around the country. She recently began another business called More Than Medals. It is an empowerment program for teenage female athletes that centers around motivation, nutrition & increased self-esteem. www.morethanmedals.us

Read the following articles to learn more about Anita:

Eat Better & Swim Faster: 3 Strategies for Awesome Nutrition Habits

By Olivier Poirier-Leroy

Your swim coach has probably tried to drill it into you a dozen times over the years. The critical, over-riding importance of good nutrition.

Even without your coach trying to encourage you to make better life decisions when you have fork and knife in hand you know what you eat matters. After all, you need it for energy, for recovery, for hydration and to maintain body weight.

The effects of poor nutriton are no joke. It leaves you more suseptible to illness. Means you aren’t recovering between races and practices. And of course, it means that you are leaving a lot of potential on the table.

Here are three proven and powerful strategies that you can deploy to clean up your nutrition habits this season.

Let’s do this:

1. Prep & Plan your meals.

A powerful way to get a handle on your diet and nutrition is to pack and plan your meals ahead of time. Granted, the idea of barricading yourself in the kitchen for a couple hours and cooking up a ton of meals isn’t immediately appealing, but the benefits are undeniable.

Here are just a few of them:

Eat Better & Swim Faster: 3 Strategies for Awesome Nutrition Habits

Meal planning is cheaper. If you like eating better and saving money then meal planning is right up your chlorinated alley. Taking a slightly longer view on your meals means that you are usually buying in bulk, and eating prepped meals is a whole lot cheaper than eating out or dropping ten bucks on a “fresh” sub.

It gives you control of your diet. This is the biggest and best benefit of planning your meals. You are actively deciding what you are going to eat ahead of time and having the power to make the food choices in service of your goals, instead or reacting to your hunger and urges, which aren’t always trustworthy or thoughtful of what you want to achieve in the water.

Saves you time. Prepping a week’s worth of meals takes a couple hours, generally one and change once you get better at it. Which means that for lunch and dinner for the rest of the week you can pop open a healthy meal, nuke it for a minute, and you are off to the races. Bulk cooking comes in particularly handy later in the week as you are growing more and more fatigued from the accumulation of training and schoolwork.

Reduces stress. Knowing what you are going to eat ahead of time takes a lot of the panicked, last-minute indulging that a lot of athletes suffer from. (And people, really.) When you know what you need to eat you save yourself the stress and willpower-flexing that comes with trying to figure out what to make for dinner after a massive practice.

So what’s the next step?

Put together a plan for your, err, plan.

Sit down with a sports dietitian and have them put together some sample meals for you. (This was the best couple hundred of dollars I have ever spent in my life and cannot recommend it enough.) With that, put together a shopping list so that you don’t walk into the grocery store and “accidentally” wander into a bulk candy bin.

Yes, having a plan for your meals takes work, but if you are serious about wanting to kick your nutrition into high gear starting with a plan will dramatically boost your odds of sticking with it and seeing the results you want.

2. Clean up the environment.

Willpower, being that fickle little thing that it is, isn’t always around when we need it most. You know this. I know this.

And yet, we still like to tempt fate by placing ourselves into situations and places where we need to summon every last ounce of it to keep us from diving into a ball pit of cheeseburgers and M&M’s.

Like it or not, we are the products of our environment.

We, quite literally, eat what we see.

So what does this mean?

  • Clean out the fridge and the cupboard. Go through your kitchen and pantry and give the old heave-ho to the things that are holding you back in the nutrition department. Cocoa Puffs? See ya later. Doritos? Toodles.
  • Have emergency snack packs of healthy food. Like most, I imagine that you are a ruthless snacker. Snacking is just, well, awesome. Having healthy finger snacking foods around the house, in your swim bag, or in your backpack at school will give you an emergency food item that will help keep you from pumping that nearby vending machine full of quarters.
  • Put the healthy, need-to-eat stuff in plain sight. We’ve all heard the phrase, we are what we eat. But actually, we eat what we see. Somefascinating research has shown that our food choices are significantly colored by ease of access. Wanna eat more bananas? Put them on the counter so you have to walk past them. More fish oil? Put it on the center shelf in the fridge. Stop hiding the healthy food. It only guarantees that it will never get eaten.
  • Make the bad stuff really hard to eat. Okay, so you don’t have quite enough willpower to part ways with your Cheetos and Cocoa Puffs. The next best thing you can is make that convenient food really inconvenient. How, you ask? By placing those not-so-great snacks in the basement, or outside in your car, or buried in the backyard. You’ll be surprised how much of a difference that little extra effort can dissuade you from Oreo-stuffing your face.

3. Keep a food journal.

When it comes to changing behavior (in this case, our nutrition habits), the first step is the self-awareness to understand what we are doing, err, eating.

Self-monitoring has been shown to work across a kajillion different studies, withone study of 1,700 dieters losing twice as much weight as those who didn’t keep a food journal.

The reason that keeping a food journal is so powerful is pretty simple: it forces you to come to terms with what you are actually eating. No longer can you hide behind the powerful veil of denial and “oh, pretty sure it was just one slice” any longer.

Two things for making your food journal work:

  • You don’t need to go crazy on the details. Writing out exact calorie counts and all the macros can be a lot of work, so if you are just starting out, stick to the basics, but be accurate and don’t sugar coat how much or how little you are actually eating.
  • Accuracy is key. The temptation will always be there to gloss over your bad food choices while over-exaggerating the better ones. Use your food journal accurately and honestly otherwise it loses a huge amount of value.

Having a mildly detailed food diary (or journal, if “diary” isn’t manly enough for ya) is something you will need when you sit down with a dietitian, which I truly cannot recommend enough. It gives them the knowledge and ability to poke through the holes of your nutrition, and give you accurate, actionable advice based on what you like to eat.

How to Go Semi-Pro with a Food Journal

If you want to take your food journal to the next level, beside each meal it can super helpful to write down a quick couple words on why you just powered down that specific meal.

You’ll be surprised, chagrined, and curious to see that you don’t always eat when you are hungry (shocking, right?), and that some of the stuff you are cramming into your mouth-hole is out of boredom, ease of access (it’s sitting right there, so might as well eat it!), stress, or because you are actually hungry.

Having this little piece of intel into your eating habits is a powerful way of being able to undermine those urges when they happen again at a later date. It gives you leverage to talk yourself down when you have those moments of weakness:

Okay, I wanna eat that whole pizza, but I don’t need to because I know I am just stressed out with schoolwork, and I am actually not that hungry.

The Takeaway

For a lot of us it can feel like a real battle when it comes to trying to conquer our eating habits. All too often it seems like we are subject to the whims of our urges, tastes, and last-minute episodes of “hangryness.”

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

With a little bit of planning, some humility in knowing just how powerful those urges are, and doing the legwork to break down our nutrition, we can not only master our cravings, but also reap of health and performance benefits along the way.


This article is part of our “nutrition for swimmers” series.

Here are other posts in this series:

Search the Nutrition Corner

Archive