Is there a doctor in the house!

drink plenty of water and eat some fruit like bananas before session, mid session, and post session. you could be getting dehydrated and could be losing minerals like potassium. same thing happens to my wife on long bicycle rides.

when you're wet, you don't notice that you are sweating. surfing is a real workout and your muscles are using up the water and nutrients in your body.

remember that when you go on trips to mexico, costa and beyond. . .

 

This is for information purposes only and please do not take it as medical advice.

There are a few reasons why our muscles cramp up, with the caveat that nobody really knows for sure (see attached). It has not been proven conclusively in the medical literature. But these are the theories:

1) Without a doubt, changes in serum electrolyte concentration can cause muscle cramping. The biggest culprits are sodium (Na) and potassium (K). When these concentrations get too low or two high, our muscles don't work as efficiently and tend to cramp. Our body is extremely efficient at managing our K concentrations. Most of the K in our bodies is stored in our cells, so this in effect acts as buffer to maintain the K levels in our blood and visa versa. While eating a banana (which is high in K) gives our body good energy in form of simple carbohydrates that our body turns to glucose and uses as fuel, the impact on our body's total K concentration is negligible. Therefore it is unlikely that the K in a banana will prevent cramps, although to the extent that the muscle cramps are caused by fatigue and depletion of glucose (more on this later) eating the banana or anything high in simple sugars (like gatorade or a chocolate bar) is probably a good idea. The bigger culprit in our muscles is Na. As the human body exercises, we do lose some Na in the form of sweat, BUT we actually lose more water than sweat relative to our blood concentration. This means that as we become dehydrated, the Na concentration in our blood actually goes UP. This problem is exacerbated by being in the ocean, which has about 3.5% salinity compared to our body's 0.9%. Since, in effect, the ocean is saltier, water leaves our body through our skin as we surf through a process called osmosis. So surfing makes us SUPER dehydrated and the Na concentration in our blood becomes very high, leading to muscle dysfunction and cramping. How do we reverse this? It's important to drink water, preferably with some added electrolytes (like gatorade). However, don't drink TOO much. Drinking too much water causes our Na to get too LOW. This can also cause problems with our muscles, particularly our heart. There have been numerous cases of marathon runners who literally OVER hydrated themselves and died from drinking too much water during races.

#2) Meanwhile, our muscles need glucose (the simplest form of sugar) to function. We get glucose from eating, but we also get it from a molecule called glycogen which is stored in our muscles and liver. As we stay in the water for hours, our bodies start depleting glycogen stores, and our blood sugar drops. Our muscles literally run out of fuel. Therefore, feed the furnace if you're out for a long sesh and have a candy bar.

#3) Water is a much more potent conductor of heat than air. Our muscles like to work at a toasty 98.6 degrees. In the air, our body has numerous mechanisms to maintain temperature (mostly through perspiration and opening up or constricting the small blood vessels close to our skin). In the water these mechanisms don't work as well. The combined effect of these factors is that even a 70 degree water temperature can cause our muscles to get too cold to function properly. Even if our core feels relatively comfortable, the muscles in our periphery still are effected by the colder water temperatures, and don't work as well, leading to cramping.

#4) Going long stretches without surfing (like this summer) deconditions our paddling muscles. Then when the waves get good, spending 4 hours in the water puts a lot of stress on deconditioned muscles. Deconditioned muscles start malfunctioning with too much stress, leading to cramps.

 

stretching is the most important thing you can do before a session. itll keep you lose and help avoid injuries. that could be one of the reasons for cramps.

 

Coconut water! More potassium than a large banana plus a host of other electrolytes.

 

All you need is 1 banana. works like a charm for me.

 

nothing worse than a bad leg cramp when your about to get into a wave. drink lots of water and stretch.

 

Hydration and stretching are definitely key to preventing cramps. I've also found that paying attention to my breathing helps with cramps. Sometimes, when I'm paddling to get into a wave, I realize (after the fact) that I'm holding my breath. During sessions where I've had cramping problems, I find that I can stave off the cramps by making sure that I'm breathing regularly.

 

I second this. Also, I've been told that drinking pickle juice helps to lessen the cramps. My school's athletic trainer tells us that anything with salt will help to retain the water in our muscles, so try putting a lot of salt on stuff. or just drink coconut water because it's basically a natural energy drink.

 

smoking some weed before going out can really help..honestly

 

Holy ****... Iceybeats is back!!!!

 

avocados

Avocados have several times the amount of potassium as a banana. Throw it on a tortilla with a little hot sauce and yer straight.

 

^^ it has to be sea salt... do not use normal salt "iodized" thats no good

 

so are you saying just drink some ocean water while we're out there and we're good to go?

 

Avocados are nasty, id rather get cramps then eat one.

 

Hey Matt

Is that your wife, or your girlfriend?