Do you regularly suffer from muscle cramps when you play sports, during or after exercise? Are you wondering why and how they occur? Painful, and sometimes even dangerous, you could do without them and we understand! By immobilizing one of your limbs for several minutes, a cramp can ruin your sports session. Our Aqua By coaches explain and give you their solutions and sports tips to avoid muscle cramps, during or after an aquabiking class or d'water aerobics.
Why do cramps appear when playing sports?
At rest, during or just after exercise, a muscle may contract involuntarily and become paralyzed for several seconds, or even several minutes. This is called a muscle cramp.
What causes a muscle cramp? When is she arriving? A cramp generally reflects too intense sporting activity, the absence of stretching or a lack of hydration. Muscle cramps can then appear during a warm-up or too brutal an exercise, but also after exercise, during recovery, when the body is tired. And, although aquabike and aquagym are of the gentle water activities for the joints and muscles, cramps can occur at any time! Rest assured, it is possible to limit the appearance of this unpleasant and painful phenomenon by knowing a few good tips.
The 5 best tips from Aqua By coaches to avoid cramps muscular
1. Warm up at the start of each class
It is important not to neglect warming up before any sporting activity, especially in swimming pool. The latter is essential to prepare the muscles for more or less intense effort. That is why each Aqua By aquabiking class begins with a warming up gently for several minutes!
“I advise you to warm up well before the start of the class! Do a few knee raises before getting on the bike to avoid cramps during the session!” Isak
2. Position yourself well
Keep your back straight, that’s it. there good position to adopt on your bike, during all aquabike exercises. This not only allows you to boost the effectiveness of aquabiking exercises, but also toavoid possible injuries or excessive strain on one of your muscles. Also remember to properly adjust your bike before the start of the session!
3. Hydrate regularly and eat healthily
In the swimming pool, muscle cramps in the legs, particularly in the calves and feet, are not uncommon. And one of the main causes of these cramps is none other than poor hydration, or even poor diet. ! A poorly hydrated and poorly nourished muscle risks drying out and therefore contracting.
The solution to preventing the appearance of muscle cramps? Stay hydrated enough (around 1.5 liters of water per day) and eat balanced meals every day. This helps build up reserves of sodium, potassium and magnesium, and thus compensate for the loss of water and mineral salts during exercise.
4. Stretch after sport
At Aqua By, each aquabiking class ends with a series of stretches. Our coaches will tell you, they are essential to limit possible aches and the risk of muscle cramps during the recovery phase, or worse, the night following.
You end the session gently, while taking care of your muscles, joints and tendons.
“Never neglect the post workout. Stretching your arms, legs and back helps prevent soreness the next day. Victor
5. Rest between sports sessions
Excessive strain on the body's muscles can lead to muscle cramps. This is why it is so important to get enough sleep and rest between each sports session to improve muscle recovery.
Aquabike and aquagym are considered to be gentle sports, beneficial for health. They are as effective for people wanting to get back into shape as for serious athletes looking for a recovery sport!
“Rest is the key to sports performance! Stretching and massage are good methods to maximize the effects of recovery » Serena
Are there any questions ? Need advice? Meet in your favorite Aqua By aquabiking studio in Paris to meet our coaches!
