Feet Cramping..

your muscles and tendons are too tight. regular stretching is the only cure, **** water.

 

Yup, definitely stretch. I always calf in my cramps if I'm dehyrdated so I chug water and eat a banana before every session too. Also, try some different fins. I've never tried Redleys, but I can say the Hydro Tech 2 fins are super comfy with decent thrust. And get a seperate pair for winter, one size up.

 

Try taking your foot and roll it over a golf ball, specifically around your arch. That will help loosen any tightness, although that may not be the issue. Cramping can be caused by a lack of fitness as well. By lack of fitness I mean, of it this way, how often are you laying on your board with your foot flexed in that position? Stretching your calves can also help.

 

drink more water before you surf. I seriously water binge before any serious activity because I know I don't drink nearly enough during the day. Grown man is supposed to drink like 8 pints / day!

 

I do just about everything that's been recommended here, and still get foot cramps almost every time I surf.

 

I've never dealt with foot cramps but I can attest to the stretching recommendations. Are you getting a quick stretch in to loosen up during a surf or spending 30 minutes to an hour stretching at night to become more flexible. I do both but have really been focusing on becoming more flexible and it has definitely helped my surfing. My main areas were hips and hamstrings. What part of your foot was cramping up?

 

I also just practice finswimming a _LOT_... also helps stretching both ways (including curling foot all the way back). When I started doing it regularly I could only finswim about 1/4 mile before getting cramps, now I can do ~2 miles with no cramps pretty easily.

When I do get fin cramps during a sesh I have a few in-water rituals to try to get them to go away.. touching my toes, grabbing the top of my fins and using them to bend my toes back, rubbing my calves, pointing and unpointing my feet over and over, fin-swimming in circles between sets instead of sitting still, or floating on my belly with my fins in the air behind me and shaking them vigorously or smacking them together over and over..

 

Try eating some bananas and Gatorade or anything rich in Potassium. (potassium pills) Cramping is often a sign of low potassium. Combine this with the remedies above.

 

Ugh! I feel your pain. Foot cramps suck. I get them almost every session especially if there's a little chill in the water. Sometimes the only way to flatten everything out is to catch a wave and magically I quit thinking about those misshapen toes and they straighten out for the duration of the ride then it's back to frankentoes til the next wave.

 

Potassium and sodium is all of this. Drink fluids til you have to piss every 30 minutes at least or you aren't saturated. The stretching is the band-aid here. Solve the issue simply and you'll feel 10x better as a whole.

Coconut water is the chronic.

 

Besides water and potassium, I also take a vitamin that has a lot of magnesium in it. I do this when the water starts getting below 65 and my calf muscle wants to act up. The magnesium and water help a lot. Dont drink too much coffee.

 

Thera-Band Foot Roller.

 

Fins could be too small, I had to take a size down in snorkel fins because my size was too loose. If I wear them too long or kick to vigorously (like trying to bodysurf) I sometimes cramp up.

 

I get the cramping too, at the two hour mark. Like clock work, no matter what. Last week I discovered that if I then sit on the beach for 45 minutes, I can go back in again and not cramp. Maybe try that? Course I am older. But still....

 

If your dogs are really barking, soak them in an epsom salt bath. It's magnesium sulfate. This is just as good before the sesh as after, maybe even better.

 

Calcium and magnesium are required, it has nothing to do with lack of stretching.

 

EmassSpicoli, so you are saying after being in the salt water for hours surfing, go home and soak your feet in salt water?

 

Yeah, stupid idea of mine. Definitely doesn't work.

Yes, there's magnesium in the ocean. Along with a schittload of toxins. The warm water of a bath in magnesium sulfate potentiates absorption far more than cold ocean water and you're not wearing a wetty which is a barrier of sorts as you're not exposed topically to as much water as you are without it on. Chemicals aside, the warm water ain't gonna be hurting this lad's feet.

On another note, I noticed last night riding the Carver at a high intensity for a longer duration where I was putting lots of pressure on my back foot especially that a slight cramped feeling came on. My electrolytes and minerals were pretty good on intake yesterday but I'm sure prolonged intensity of muscular contraction gets you closer to cramping. Drink Brawndo!!