Which muscle for finning?

[captn_peaky]

Hi,

Apologies if this has been raised before.

I find that after a couple of hours in the pool with students, finning around, kneeling, surface movement etc etc, I become prone to cramp in my calves. This is something I'd like to address - especially as the said cramp seems to linger in the background until I do something energetic, like a tank-value-tow race (or, potentially, a rescue operation).

I'm a member of the gym and go (fairly *ahem* ) regularly, so that's not so much a problem. However, although all the weight machines identify the names of the muscles they target, I've no idea which ones are specific to the specialised activity of finning.

Any medically minded divers able to give me the proper names I should be focusing on, rather than just looking at the pictures on the machines and going for anything below the knee!

Also, are there any particular CV activities which would beneift the art of finning?

Thanks in advance.

[Dan Wilko]

Main muscles involved;
Hamstrings for flexion of the leg around the knee joint (foot moves towards arse),
Quadriceps for extension, leg straightening.
Calves move the actual foot.

Not sure what CV activities would benifit, but i imagine calf raises would help.
Can be done at home or at the gym.
Go to some stairs, balls of your feel on the step, and just raise your heels.
Do this as many times as you can.
To add resistance you could do it whilst holding dumbells.

Also to help prevent cramp make sure you are well hydrated before your dive.

hth

Dan

[BJ]

Quinine Bisulphate tablets or drink a bottle of tonic water an hour before!

[Mal Bridgeman]

As well as the other good advice ..... do get a pro to check your fins fit properly. Many cramps are caused by divers curling their toes because the fins are too tight or too loose.

HTH
Mal

[Brian of Aquanauts]

A long time ago, I used to get occaisional cramp. I took up running and after a month of doing 5 miles a few times per week it never came back.

HTH

[Sooty Stoo]

Finning?

Get yourself a nice big DPV and never fin again!!!!

[TerryH]

Originally Posted by captn_peaky

Hi,

Apologies if this has been raised before.

I find that after a couple of hours in the pool with students, finning around, kneeling, surface movement etc etc, I become prone to cramp in my calves. This is something I'd like to address - especially as the said cramp seems to linger in the background until I do something energetic, like a tank-value-tow race (or, potentially, a rescue operation).

I'm a member of the gym and go (fairly *ahem* ) regularly, so that's not so much a problem. However, although all the weight machines identify the names of the muscles they target, I've no idea which ones are specific to the specialised activity of finning.

Any medically minded divers able to give me the proper names I should be focusing on, rather than just looking at the pictures on the machines and going for anything below the knee!

Also, are there any particular CV activities which would beneift the art of finning?

Thanks in advance.

Yep change your finning action.

Sounds like you are using your ankles way too much, not so bad if you have
a flexible fin, but a real pain if yours are planks.

Best advice is to use the thigh muscles in a nice long slow deliberate
stroke. Get this right and it's easy to change from flutter to frog kick and
you even use a different muscle group.

Get somebody to watch you and I bet there is loads of ankle and not so
much thigh.

T.









.

[captn_peaky]

Thanks for all the great advice - some really useful stuff. I'll give it all a go and see what happens.

[KimH]

Also,
don't underestimate the value of regular stretching - concentrating on the same muscle groups mentioned above and working the joints, tendons and ligaments.

You might find this interesting Emu Oil. I have just got some to see if it will help with recovery from an Achilles Tendon tear the calf muscle does seem to be taking a battering during rehab and cramping more.