Stretching, Sore Muscles and Mermaid Cramps

[Mermaid Jessica Pearl]

I hope I'm not doubling up with this. Had a bit of a look and couldn't find anything specifcally on these topics.
I had a big (3hour plus) gig yesterday and I have woken up so sore all over. Especially my neck. I also end up cramping a fair bit after about an hour in the water.
I do try to remember to stretch but forgot yesterday!
Does anyone have some tips on what the best stretches to avoid all this are? And have anything to share about their experiences with this?
Also any remedies for sore mermaid muscles!
And cramps. Usually by the time I'm getting crampy I know I need to get out soon but sometimes I'm being mobbed by children. What have other people done in this situation?

[Mermaid Wesley]

Ooh! Ooh! I have some knowledge! Stretches first.
For the legs: touch your toes, butterfly stretch, pull your heel to your butt, one legged split (front leg fully bent, back leg out straight behind you)

For the feet: point and flex. Point and flex. Pull back on your toes with your hands to stretch the bottoms, etc.


For the sides:
Deep breathing, reach up and over to the side alternating sides

Shoulders/neck: one arm across chest. pull with other arm, arm behind head and push down on elbow, just lean your head to both sides and front and back slowly.

Do those before and after swimming. Eat a banana before you get in. Hot shower and lots of water after. As you keep at it you won't get sore as often. :) I hope that made sense.


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[Ayla of Duluth]

I must be eating my bananas wrong. Bananas aren't much a part of my diet unless they're sitting out in front of me. One night I was like "I should eat a bunch of these so I stop getting charlie horses in my leg at night." So I ate like 3 bananas and then BOTH my legs got charlie horses in them instead of just one. Never again. :P

[Aziara]

Ayla, maybe your sodium/potassium balance is off? Try a glass of water with a sprinkle of sea salt stirred in.

[PearlieMae]

Bananas need to be a regular part of your diet to benefit from the added potassium.

In the short term, prior to swimming, drinking some tonic water (blech! It's bitter to some people) can help stave off cramps. The quinine in the tonic is what does it. My old drummer used to get calf cramps until we added tonic water to his pre-show routine.

Edited to add: AND STAY HYDRATED!!!!

[Winged Mermaid]

Here are other threads on the same subject with useful info :)

http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?t=2612

http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?t=6000

http://mernetwork.com/index/showthread.php?t=2090

[Mermaid Wesley]

Thanks Iona :)


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[Winged Mermaid]

Sure thing! I always get cramps with the competitor (what's in my Merbella tail) if I don't stretch. The ones I do are for my calves since that's where I get cramps. I sit on the floor and point and flex my feet hard (pointing down into the ground, flexing at the ceiling), and also this one is the best IMO-

20396

I'll do this with a beach towel

20397

Hydration is important. For me it's less about potassium and more about magnesium, though both are important. I just have low magnesium levels, which I do epsom salt baths for on a regular basis. You can take it in a capsule, but magnesium is so finicky being absorbed that way you could take it an not absorb any whatsoever depending on over a dozen variables, so skin is really the best way to do it. I also have magnesium oil (http://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Minerals-Ultra-Pure-Magnesium/dp/B001AD0HL8) for topical application. It can be really irritating to the skin, pretty much the more deficient you are the more it burns X_x I do have a Cal-Mag supplement (NOW brand (http://www.amazon.com/NOW-Foods-Cal-mag-Capsules-240/dp/B0013OVY1G)) that I can take a few hours before swimming that seems to help a good deal.

As for potassium, bananas is actually #10 on the top ten foods highest in potassium (http://www.healthaliciousness.com/articles/food-sources-of-potassium.php). Check out some of the other good options! Divers swear by baked potatoes.

Coconut water is also another great thing that I use that's hydrating, has electrolytes, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. :) Hope that helps!

[AniaR]

magnesium. Water. epsom salt bath. yoga. :) good luck

[ShyMer]

I have a firm foam roller that I use for muscle soreness sometimes. I use it for stretching too- it's a pretty useful tool.

[Mermaid Jessica Pearl]

Thankyou so much guys! All of this info will be very useful!

[Mermaid Jaffa]

I remember a childhood exercise they used to make us do at kindergarten.

Lay on your back, raise your legs in the air, and pretend you're riding a bike.

It was one of their ways of making kids tired so they'd go to after nap earlier!

[just_d]

I know about basic pre-exertion stretches, but I also want to be increasing my overall flexibility. I've always been a bit overly bendy, but I developed some knee & back issues and ended up being much less active overall, so a good deal of it finally went away. So it's changed how I move underwater. I used to be able to do back flips and stuff without even thinking about it - but my body has changed; I went to do a backflip and I got a terrible cramp in my hamstring. I had to get out of the pool to stretch it out completely. So I know this is something I need to work on.

I work 3 jobs, so I don't have a lot of extra time consistently to either pay for yoga classes (which most regular ones are too much for me, and the more gentle/restorative class's tend to happen too late for my schedule), or necessarily spend 60-90mins + public transit time both ways to take a class regularly.

Is there a core set of yoga stretches that any mers would recommend as most helpful for mermaiding? Maybe a 20-30 min set I could do at home each day?

Thanks for your help and ideas!

[PearlieMae]

I'm not sure about a set of yoga stretches, but pick up a couple of dvds. I get them all the time at goodwill or salvation army for a couple of dollars! Exercise at home!

[just_d]

Yes, there's lots of nice ones on YT and such, absolutely! And I know many yoga instructors, but none who mermaid, so while they may have ideas, they wouldn't have firsthand experience.

Was just hoping to find which of the stretches would be best for targeting Mer-needs.

Thanks though! 😃

[Mermaid Jaffa]

I also do the one where I pretend I'm hula hooping.

[Alinda the Reef Fish]

I have made the mistake of not-stretching before swimming and now my hips are inflamed and I have to have a professional massage done when the inflammation stops. Thankfully, my father is a licensed massage therapist, so I won't have to worry about medical costs, but I know not everyone is that fortunate.

DO NOT FORGET TO STRETCH. MISTAKES WERE MADE.