Swim team q? i swim2hrs a night. my arms stiff up all the time in water i slow down cause of it. what can i do

Question

i do dryland usuially b4 practice half an hour. when i get in the pool my arms feel loose and good (i streach every night) once we have been in for a bit and i am on the wall my arms start to get stiff and i start to slow down they feel like rocks. also i went through a groth spirt 2yrs ago grew 6in in 3months idk if that has to do with anything. i dont do weights and i am 6ft1in tall and i am 14 still growing. any tips and what i can do to keep arms loose in water and also to help streach out legs i cramp ALOT!!!! cant wear fins cause i cramp to much. please post :D your swimming mate swimmer

Answer 1

I feel you on this one. It used to happen to me all of the time. The growth spurt might have had something to do with it because I had the same problems after i grew from 5'7 to 6'2. What I do to keep my arms form getting stiff is constantly stretch my arms while swimming. After you finish a set do some arm stretches as well as leg and calf stretches. Make sure you are drinking water or gatorade periodically. Don't drink to much though, that can make you feel sick. Another thing I startd doing for cramps is make sure I eat a bannana a day. This helps with the potassium. Also load up on magnesium-rich items such as dark leafy greens. I had to look up cramping on webmd becaus ei was cramping a lot. They also suggested that you get your daily amont of calcium. Something about it controls muscle contractions while Mg controls muscle retractions. Hope this helps and get fast.

Answer 2

I would suggest increase your potassium intake as well as your electrolyte intake.  These are the common causes for cramping, so make sure you're eating foods such as avocados, broccoli, bananas, etc.  I swam all four years in college and I found I would cramp up from time to time and our athletic trainer suggested eating  pickles and drinking Gatorade. Though Gatorade contains a lot of sugar, I would suggest the Gatorade Rain drink to satisfy your needed electrolytes.  Just drink it throughout the day, and make the necessary changes to your diet and you should see improvements in a couple days or so.

Answer 3

one solution might be to fix your diet like what the first answerer said.  Another thing you could do is just keep practicing and maybe you're just sore.  If this is the case, then it means that you're getting faster.