First Tri Complete! Swim questions

Congrats on your first tri! What gives with the cramp? Maybe nothing, just a freak accident maybe? Perhaps culmination of all your preparation plus race day tension, not enough stretching? I wouldn't sweat it, unless it begins repeating.....

Congratulations Triathlete!

Was it in your calf? If so, it is prob. from not stretching enough. With running, your feet are normally flexed, however in swimming you point your toes, if you don't stretch your calfs, you can often get charlie horse cramps when you swim.

I'd be interested in seeing the source of that information. According to an article on this site in the Performance member section answered by members of The American Medical Society of Sports Medicine, there is absolutely no medical evidence that stretching prevents injury.

I'm not claiming to be a medical professional. I am just talking from prior experience when it comes to calf cramps. I often get cramps when I swim after a day of running if I do not stretch properly. All I am saying is it is normal and you can do something about it. It never hurts to stretch.

Congratulations on your first race!

As far as the cramping, how hard were you kicking during the swim? Most people use a minimum kick to save their legs for the bike and swim. Some advise to kick harder as you get near the finish to get the blood flowing in the legs again to get ready for the run up to T1.

I'll get cramps in my calves occasionally, but it is mostly due to keeping my toes pointed and my calf muscles contracted for a long period of time.

Good luck,
Mark


Edited by RedCorvette 2005-09-06 9:45 AM

I'd be interested in seeing the source of that information. According to an article on this site in the Performance member section answered by members of The American Medical Society of Sports Medicine, there is absolutely no medical evidence that stretching prevents injury.

Oy, I knew this would happen. Stretching is something of a sacred cow in sport. 

First - for the record, I in no way intended to call into question the swimming exptertise or knowledge of jellyfish. A good swim for me is not drowning, a good swim for her is taking home two medals instead of one. I am a barnacle to her dolphin.

Second -

I didn't reference a study, I referenced an article. It's a significant difference. Also, the purpose of the article was to answer the question "are there any proven benefits to stretching, specifically relating to flexibility and injury prevention", not "are there any reasons to not stretch". According to the article, the answer to both questions appears to be "none that can be found".

I quote from the article, written by a member of the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine.

"there is little evidence that stretching regularly prevents injury, and a large analysis of similar studies done in 2002 concluded that there was no meaningful effect. There is also evidence that strength (and hypothesized also the performance) is actually decreased for up to an hour after a static stretching session....the truth is that there is just no evidence that it is helpful "

The author does go on to state that there is more promise for stretching as a therapeutic treatment and that he prescribes it as such.

The article clearly states that this is from "a large analysis of similar studies", not "one study" as you state. Where are these "many studies" that found stretching to be useful? I'd really  like to read them. If they're published by reputable peer reviewed journal, I'll be the first one to bring them to people's attention whenever this question comes up. I'm primarily interested in evidence of stretching being a useful means of preventing injury.

There is another article in the Training section published after the one quoted above that was also written by a member of the AMSSM.. This article recommends stretching as part of an athletic program, but there is no scientific evidence for the position offered. I find it interesting that the article with references has a lower rating than the one without references. Sacred cows die hard.

There is also a very good article that I think presents a very useful and well reasoned approach to how and why to incorporate stretching into one's training program.

Please don't take this personally, because it isn't meant as such. There are many claims made about stretching and I'm interested in any science around it and in having a polite, respectful, rational discussion on the evidence for any claims or beliefs held about it.

And poolejr, congratulations on your first triathlon and your first hijacked thread.

marmadaddy,
I completely agree with you, but when you say that there is no medical evidence that proves that stretching prevents injury. Many people will take that as "why should I stretch?" I am not for or against stretching, but if it helps use it. And there are many studies (studies better than articles) that say stretching helps cramping, which was the original comment. Here are a few from internal medicine, sports medicine, and neurology:

Arch Intern Med. -Muscle cramps.- "Although many therapies have been proposed for ordinary cramps, the best evidence supports stretching exercises and quinine."

THE PHYSICIAN AND SPORTSMEDICINE - Skeletal Muscle Cramps During Exercise -
"The key to preventing acute EAMC is protecting the muscle from developing premature fatigue during exercise. This may be accomplished by advising athletes to:
Be well conditioned for the activity;
Regularly stretch the muscle groups that are prone to cramping;
Maintain adequate nutrition (carbohydrate and fluid) to prevent premature muscle fatigue during exercise; and
Reduce their exercise intensity and duration if necessary. "

Journal of sports sciences -Aetiology of skeletal muscle 'cramps' during exercise: a novel hypothesis.- “Furthermore, during acute EAMC the EMG activity is high, and passive stretching is effective in reducing EMG activity. This relieves the cramp probably by invoking the inverse stretch reflex”

Annals of Neurology - The influence of muscular lengthening on cramps- "Muscle stretching caused a sudden interruption of cramps induced by either voluntary contraction or electrical stimulation of the peripheral nerve, even after the induction of nerve block."

My main point was do what feels right, and if stretching helps great! Even if it is a placebo great!
No argument is intended just showing the opposing view. I have been through alot of school and the number one thing I have seen is that the more we learn about the body the more we find out we don't know. Stretching is somthing we just don't know about yet, so if it helps jellyfish great!