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Swimming Foot Cramps

April 13, 2011 By

The muscle I think was giving me problems today in the pool.

I’ve always noticed that when I'm swimming cramps seem to come out of nowhere. The worst cramp to me is the arch cramp in your foot. It’s hard to prevent and is tough to get rid off. Hydration is the best way to prevent cramps in your calves, obliques or abs. The arch cramps are usually the result over pointing (flexing) your toes.

 

The popular notion is to stop and pull your toes towards your knee. I’ve never found that as a productive solution. When your muscle cramps it is contracting, the reaction to “stretch it out” or pull in the opposite direction it is contracting isn’t effective.  So by yanking on your muscle, you’re doing exactly the opposite of what your muscle wants to do. This will only make it hurt worse or, at best, provide temporary relief.

I’ve had success with stopping and finding the contracting muscle and massage it out. This works in your calf and the arch of your foot. My arch cramped today near the end of my workout. Instead of pulling on my toes, I found the cramping muscle near my heel and starting massaging it. After about 90 seconds, the muscle relaxed and I continued my swim (careful not to over point my toe.)

Note: I am not a doctor. Your mileage may vary. The muscle I think was cramping were the abductor hallucis. The muscle in my left foot was soft and squishy, the muscle in my right foot was solid and the size of a golf ball.

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Be Nice in the Pool!

April 12, 2011 By

Unless you’re rich enough to have your own private lap pool, inevitably you’ve had to share a lane with someone during your workout.

For the dedicated swimmer, there should be a mutual respect for another swimmer getting in a workout. You’re sharing space six-feet wide, four feet deep and 75 feet long. You’ve got to make it work while you both get a workout in.

There is an expected level of etiquette for swimmers to exhibit when sharing a lane with one or more swimmers. So here are a few rules when you want to share a lane with another swimmer.

1 – When all lanes are full and you’re going to share a lane with one other swimmer, wait for the swimmer to finish his or her current set before asking to share the lane. Don’t just jump in. If it’s just two swimmers, split the lane in half and each pick a side. (The swimmer who was there first gets to pick their preferred side)

2 – If there are already two swimmers in a lane, find a lane where the swimmers look like they’re going your speed. Ask them to share. From there, circle swim counter-clockwise keeping to the right side of the lane.

Note: If a swimmer ever says “No” to sharing a lane. Just ask the lifeguard on duty to enforce the sharing rule.

3. If you see someone standing on the pool deck hesitant to share a lane, volunteer your lane to share! It’s the nice thing to do!

4. If you’re swimming three or more to a lane, try to time the start of your sets so you’re not on top of each other. But if you do happen upon a slow swimmer lightly tap them on the foot and swim out hard to the left to pass. If you are being passed, move to the right of the lane and slow down just a touch to let the other swimmer pass you. Or, if you’re near a wall, stop at the wall and let them go ahead.

5. Be mindful when you swim fly as not to knock the other swimmers in the face.

 

Filed Under: Swimming

The Importance of Bilateral Breathing

April 6, 2011 By

Can this swimmer breathe on both sides?

Bilateral breathing is being able to breathe on both sides when you swim. It’s very important to a successful swim for two reasons.

#1 – When swimming, if you only breathe to one side, it’s likely that non-breathing side will not be as powerful as your breathing side. For example, if you breathe exclusively on your right side, you will roll to the right slightly when breathing. This will cause your left arm to pull slightly under you, reducing the power generated by your pull.  If you do this when your practice, your off-side won’t be as strong as your breathing side, robbing you of precious pull power on your swim.

#2 – Look at the photo above. The swimmer in the foreground has someone immediately to their right. If they are a right-side breather, they’re pretty much out of luck when it comes to their swim. However, if they know how to breathe on their left (which it appears they do) they can manage in the a crowded swim by breathing to the side with no one on it.

So what’s a good drill to practice bilateral breathing? Try the 3-5-7 drill.

When you have a longer set in your practice, say 200 yards or more, try breaking your breathing patterns up every 25 yards. So you would breathe every 3rd stroke on the first 25, every 5th on the second and every 7th on the third 25. This forces you to alternate breathing on your sides while also building your breathing capacity.

When you breathe on your non-dominant side, pay attention to see how much work that side is doing on your breathing strokes as opposed to when you breathe on your normal side.

Photo Credit: Positively Digital – Flickr

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Jason Lezak’s Workout

March 13, 2011 By

Jason LezakOne of my favorite swimmers is Jason Lezak. He of the fastest 100 split time ever swam….which just happened to be in the final leg of the 4×100 relay at the 2008 Olympics.  When I decided to start lifting weights a few months ago I went and found a workout used by Lezak for sprint swimmers.

I did the upper body section of that  tonight and managed okay. The weight section of the Galter is nice, albeit a little cramped.

Filed Under: Strength, Swimming

Saturday January 22nd

January 22, 2011 By

Breakfast – 3 egg omelet – spinach, onion, red pepper, zucchini and goat cheese (freaking, good)
Lunch – 12 in sweet onion chicken teriyaki
Dinner – Quartinos

Gym – Swim – 3oo w/u, 8×100 free

Filed Under: Nutrition, Swimming, Workouts

Sunday January 16th

January 16, 2011 By

Brunch – Mesquite turkey, chipotle mac and cheese, chili
Dinner – Turkey sandwich, yogurt? (I dont really remember)

Pool – 3×100 w/u, 8×100 w/ 20 seconds rest

Weight – 231 pounds (-4 pounds)

Filed Under: Nutrition, Swimming, Workouts