Triathlon Accessories | Swimming Leg Cramps – Preventing Painful Muscle Spasms In the Water

Experiencing a painful leg cramp or muscle spasm while underwater is quite a painful experience and something that you will seriously want to avoid whether you are a competitive or casual swimmer. Not only will your afflicted muscle be left extremely sore and unable to function for some time, the sudden cramping can make it nearly impossible to stay afloat, and the state of panic you may find yourself in keeps it tough to stay calm and think smart. Failing to take the necessary precautions to prevent leg cramps can leave you in a very dangerous situation altogether, and you might actually be surprised when you find out how simple yet effective some of the methods or remedies are towards prevention and relief. Read on for a quick explanation and guide for all swimmers and water-lovers alike.

1. Nutritional Aspects

We all know that you aren’t supposed to eat for 30 minutes before swimming, but not everyone realizes how directly the foods you eat can affect your muscles, specifically when you are dealing with unexpected leg cramps or muscle spasms. If you aren’t getting enough vitamins, minerals and hydration on a regular basis, this may very well be the reason you haven’t been able to get rid of those pesky cramps. Keep in mind that this relates to the regular conditioning of your body, not just immediately before a big event or swimming session. In other words, you have to constantly provide yourself with vitamins and minerals – every single day.

2. Water Temperature

The temeperature of the water you are swimming in can have a lot to do with the occurrence of muscle cramps as well, particularly if it is cold water. Your body has to work extra hard just to keep itself warm when immersed in cold water, and your muscles will almost always have trouble functioning to the best of their abilities when in cold conditions.

3. Pre-Training Routine

Another chillingly real aspect of muscle cramp prevention is stretching and warm-up routines. If you don’t allow each and every one of your muscles to limber up before any sort of physical activity, your body will likely let you know that you made a mistake by forcing one of your muscles into a state of uncontrollable contractions or spasms that will hurt like the dickens and leave your afflicted muscle entirely unable to function, sometimes for weeks after the cramp actually occurs. Depending on the level of exercise you are getting ready to participate in, a solid 15-30 minute warm-up followed by another 15-30 minutes of stretching and light exercise will usually do the trick.

4. Natural Leg Cramp Remedies

Many individuals still seem to suffer from cramps even when making sure their body is well taken care of at all times. If you feel you might be one of these people, you will probably want to pick up an organic product to help with the prevention of leg cramps.  The Amish people have used an all-natural mixture of apple cider vinegar, ginger juice and garlic juice for quite a while now, and this remedy has recently made its way to the online market. It can be taken before any event to keep cramps away for about 24 hours, and it also does well in stopping them once they start. As one of the customer reviews on Amazon proclaims, “The taste is brutal, but it really works.”

At least, it works for some people, but as with many herbal decoctions and natural remedies success cannot be guaranteed. It is certainly worth trying though as many people swear by its effectiveness for swimming cramps and uncomfortable night time cramps.

If you regularly compete in swimming competitions or any sort of physical competition or sports event, you already know how important it is to keep cramps from happening entirely. Learning how to stop cramps once they have started is much more difficult than preventing them in the first place, so it is important that you act now to prevent these painful muscle contractions in the future.

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