Cramps you may get while swimming and what to do
While swimming you may get cramps in different parts of the body. Here you’ll find some helpful advice how to help yourself in the most common cases when you manage going out of the water:
Cramps of the toes: bend and unbend the toes until they relax. If they are that stiff that the toes can’t move, or the movement is too painful, support them with your hand to enable the movement.
Cramps of the calf: massage the calf and move your feet in a pointing, flexing or circular motion.
Cramps of the quadriceps (front tight, from knee to pelvis): massage the muscle, hold the ankle, and flex the knee, so that the heel touches the buttocks. Hold for a few seconds and release.
Cramps of the hamstrings (back tight, from knee to buttocks): lift your leg forward, knee tight (like a karate kick or a leg stretching ballerina), place your foot on a stable support while the other foot is stable on the pool floor, and gently bend your torso forward, until you feel the pull in your back tight.
Cramps of the adductors (inner tights, from knee to crotch): massage and shake your legs with some light motion of the knees from left to right. Make circular movements with a relaxed shank (leg below the knee), as if jumping over a fence.
!!! MYTHS!!! Some people recommend pin-pricking the cramped muscle with a pin or a needle to relief it. I strongly recommend that you do NOT pin-prick yourself !!! When pin-pricking, you make a wound on your skin, and may even harm a muscle. If you accidentally come across a blood vessel, it may bleed even stronger.