Need help with leg cramps

[don Francisco]

Finning uses muscles that don't necessarily get much of a workout in your daily life, they're not used to the load, and your circulation can't deliver enough oxygen so you get cramps.

You have two choices.

Lighten the load with more flexible fins, or gentler finning technique until they get stronger, or do targeted excercises on land to build them up.

Quick fixes don't work, and as Lynne pointed out potassium would only factor if there were long cycles of fluid loss and replacement, as occur during outdoor endurance events on hot days.

 

[Mark Michaud SELAUSAR]

FWIW, I started with large Jetfins and cramped a lot. When I started cave diving I moved to XL Jets, and I hardly ever ger cramps. I occasionally get a minor cramp behind my thigh after a 2 plus hour dive. The XL's are much more flexible and I find them easier to dive. If you know someone who has a pair, borrow them and see if that helps since you really like the jets. You may need some larger booties. That's my two cents.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

Another vote for stretching pre-dive and exercising to strengthen the "finning" muscles.

I dive XXL Jets, love them, but when I dove yesterday on my lunch break I experienced moderate cramping in my right hamstring and calf muscles at the end of the dive (surface swim against a slight current pulling a car innertube-style dive flag).

In my case this was a conditioning problem (I had been office-bound for several weeks), not a problem with the fins. I did not stretch before diving, and simply over-worked the deconditioned muscles. I payed for being lazy in the preceeding weeks

So don't ditch the Jets just yet, work on the muscles that drive them!

 

[ZzzKing]

When I started diving I would get severe cramps but it wasn't because my legs were out of shape. My legs were in great shape... for running and jumping. Not for finning. I found new muscles in there that I wasn't aware I had. Couple that with the excessive and questionable finning technique of a newly minted diver and you get cramps. Oh boy do you get cramps.

I got a lot of advice ranging from "eat more bananas" to "just buy X brand fins". I ate a few more bananas but I stayed with the fins I had and just dove more. My legs got in better dive shape and my finning technique improved with more repetition. My leg cramps reduced.

When I take a couple of months off I still get cramps when getting back into it. I guess the answer there is to not take a couple of months off. I think the answer is to just keep at it.

 

[RJP]

Hydration and potassium (bananas perhaps) before diving.

Just don't dare bring the bananas on a boat!

 

[Hickdive]

Just don't dare bring the bananas on a boat!

Puree them with other fruit into a smoothy and bring on-board in a cup- stealth banana!

Of course, you'll still get cramp* because you'll have upset the gods of ill-fortune


Seriously though, alternate finning styles through the dive to use different muscle groups, flutter kick then frog-kick then flutter then frog, and so on.



*which won't be your primary problem as the boat will have burst into flames and sunk.

 

[ZoSo]

Why no bananas on a boat and where did it get started?

 

[RJP]

Why no bananas on a boat and where did it get started?

Not sure of specific derivation, but it's maritime superstition - brings bad luck to the trip.

I've split off rest of my response to it's own thread:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/basic-scuba-discussions/247050-banana-board.html

 

[Hoomi]

Potassium may or may not be a contributing cause in leg cramps, but provided you don't have a medical condition where you have to be extra careful with potassium intake, it's easy enough to supplement.

When I was doing the long bicycle rides, I would end up with leg cramps for around the last quarter to third of the distance, whether I had hydrated sufficiently before the ride or not. I finally increased my potassium intake for the week or so before the ride, and eliminated the cramping.

*IMPORTANT NOTE*
There are a number of medical issues which a potassium supplement may adversely affect. It's always a good idea to talk to your doctor before changing any nutritional supplement habits!

What I was doing before the big rides was taking a potassium gluconate supplement with each meal every day for a week or two. Since a single supplement tablet is only 3% of the RDA of potassium, I was only increasing my intake by 9% of the RDA each day, but this was enough to offset the amount of potassium I was losing in the aerobic activity. Combining that with particular attention to hydrating properly at least a week before the ride was enough to prevent the leg cramps.

That's what worked for me. Keep in mind I live in a hot, dry climate where I often do not even realize I'm sweating (it dries as fast as it appears on the skin), and I was riding a bicycle which induced even more sweating.

If you are in an area and/or occupation where you sweat a lot, you may need more potassium than your diet is providing. It certainly shouldn't hurt to increase your intake of potassium-rich foods, and if your doctor agrees you might consider a supplement.

 

[GrandpaScuba]

I presume you really mean Jet Fins and not Twinjet Fins. Jet Fins can cause cramps. You need pretty strong leg muscles to use Jet Fins. If your "finning" muscles aren't used to being used, you'll overload them and that will cause cramps.