How do you prevent leg cramps?

Question

I recently joined the swim team for my neighborhood and when i swam i did aweful, i couldnt keep up and i was constantly out of breath. that didnt bother me so much because thats just working at it and im out of shape. but at the last lap my leg freaks out and its been hurting me an hour and a half afterwards. My coach said eat more potassium. what do you guys think?

Answer 1

I'm wondering about this "my leg freaks out" thing, is it twitching a lot or does it just hurt really bad?

If it hurts really bad then you should stretch before you swim. Every swimmer really should, I've even seen it help my times but anyways stretch for at least 5 minutes before you get in the water every time, this will help not only with your leg but also with your general overall pain from swimming.

But if you have uncontrollable twitches I can't explain that except for things that probably would've been diagnosed already. If this is the case lay off electrolyte replenishers and other sources of energy for a while, what may be happening is that your nerve cells are getting too many signals because of chemical imbalances in your nervous organ system, specifically with sodium-potassium pumps that nerves run on. Either way it goes it looks like you're going to have to change your potassium intake, it is afterall a very reactive element and it's responsible for a lot of things that go on in your body.

Answer 2

streching

Answer 3

eat ALOT of bananas!!! and make sure to drink plenty of water

Answer 4

try stretching before workouts and eat a lot a potassium (bananas)  this should help the cramps in your legs. however if these methods don't work you should try icing them for a while to relieve the pain --

Answer 5

Potassium will help.   Bananas are naturally high it in.