A lot of times in the gym i can’t finish my workout because of cramps (well i stop myself before it actually cramps up but i feel it coming a lot and it hurts for a short while). It happens at the soles of my feet. This happens mostly during two exercises: overhead dumbbell pressing (something about the way i press with my feet during the last tough reps), and squats.
yesterday i missed out on the most important last rep (4th) while doing heavy front squats because after standing up from my third rep i felt my foot cramping up.
so i rested a while, did some other exercises, then started doing some hack squats and same thing. actually had to stop and hold my foot in pain for a while as it cramped up again.
so this is getting in the way of me getting a good leg workout and a good shoulder workout.
anyone have experiences like this? I wonder where i might have an imbalance that causes this.
sounds like whenever weight is pushing down toward your feet they start to cramp. Have you tried wearing different types of trainers? Or maybe different in-soles?
I get these ALL THE TIME in jiu jitsu. I get them from putting force through the top front of my toes. (Think kneeling with your feet under you and feet pointing back).
When I got a new pair of lifting shoes (converse all stars) and the soles were stiff I got the same cramps after heavy DLs and squats. I frequently bring my toes off the ground during those lifts. Broke my shoes in so I can bend the soles up and haven’t had the problem since.
My suggestions:
Check how much you are raising your toes during the lift.
Check how flexible the soles of your lifting shoesare
[quote]Goodfellow wrote:
sounds like whenever weight is pushing down toward your feet they start to cramp. Have you tried wearing different types of trainers? Or maybe different in-soles?[/quote]
i dont think its from weight pushing down on toward my feet. at least not when doing overhead DB presses. its definitly from a certain position of pushing off my feet against resistance, but i need to do that again to pay attention to how it is exactly and record it. cause i cant remember how it goes.
[quote]ahab wrote:
This is a little from left field, but…
I get these ALL THE TIME in jiu jitsu. I get them from putting force through the top front of my toes. (Think kneeling with your feet under you and feet pointing back).
When I got a new pair of lifting shoes (converse all stars) and the soles were stiff I got the same cramps after heavy DLs and squats. I frequently bring my toes off the ground during those lifts. Broke my shoes in so I can bend the soles up and haven’t had the problem since.
My suggestions:
Check how much you are raising your toes during the lift.
Check how flexible the soles of your lifting shoesare[/quote]
what do you mean you broke your shoes in so that you can bend the soles up?
maybe i need orthopedic support when lifting or something? or shoes with extra arch support or something?
EDIT: nevermind. i know what you mean by breaking them in.
i think these shoes im using might be the problem BECAUSE they have arch support.
i mean, the arch support = inflexible. cause there’s a solid thing there lifting up my sole or something.
when i think back, i dont think i had this problem when using flatter shoes without any arch support. tho i cant remember whether or not they were flexible.
I get these also. The muscles on the bottom of you feet are most likely just weak. When you are holding a load the muscle in the arch of your foot activate to maintain the arch. It’s just like overusing any other weak muscle and having cramp up. Take gallon of water(unopened) and kneed it with your bare feet or buy some Nike frees and take a short walk in them a few times a day.
Honestly this is just my opinion but we seem to want to insulate out feet for any kind of actual contact with anything. Its ridiculous. Our feet have muscles and they need worked too. By making more and more stable shoes we take alll the work away from them and they get weaker and weaker. The we buy orthodics to cater to the structural imbalances cause by us letting our feet get weak. Sorry that was kind of a rant and just my opinion.
[quote]ratman201 wrote:
I get these also. The muscles on the bottom of you feet are most likely just weak. When you are holding a load the muscle in the arch of your foot activate to maintain the arch. It’s just like overusing any other weak muscle and having cramp up. Take gallon of water(unopened) and kneed it with your bare feet or buy some Nike frees and take a short walk in them a few times a day.
Honestly this is just my opinion but we seem to want to insulate out feet for any kind of actual contact with anything. Its ridiculous. Our feet have muscles and they need worked too. By making more and more stable shoes we take alll the work away from them and they get weaker and weaker. The we buy orthodics to cater to the structural imbalances cause by us letting our feet get weak. Sorry that was kind of a rant and just my opinion.[/quote]
i completely agree. i also got orthotics a while back cause some othropedics guy told me i need them, cause of some imbalance in my muscles. wore them for a while until i realized just how wrong that is.
ended up fixing the imbalance with ATG squats, and more movement and walking, which restored balance to my leg muscles. i think sitting around too much was a big problem.
I get cramps in my feet when doing certain activities if I dont stretch my feet enough.
Place your foot on the floor while standing or sitting, and lift your heel and press your toes to the ground, while keeping your toes flat on the ground. YOu will be able to feel a stretch in your foot. Do it several times a day.
Doing this takes care of the problem for me.
[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
Concentrate on doing the work with your heels and using the rest of your feet only to maintain balance.
I bet you’re pushing with the balls of your feet and maybe even tensing up your toes by scrunching them toward the floor to some degree.
None of this may be even be apparent unless you really pay attention.[/quote]
well with squats i know i keep thinking about the heels to make sure i push with them, but who knows maybe in the last rep or two i forget all about that as i simply try to get up and not get crushed by the weight.
with overhead presses, i think it might be from pushing with balls of my feet. again, i gotta try that again and pay attention to what im doing.
[quote]DanErickson wrote:
I get cramps in my feet when doing certain activities if I dont stretch my feet enough.
Place your foot on the floor while standing or sitting, and lift your heel and press your toes to the ground, while keeping your toes flat on the ground. YOu will be able to feel a stretch in your foot. Do it several times a day.
Doing this takes care of the problem for me.[/quote]