Getting on top of muscle cramps
Common advice: Are you drinking enough water? Make sure to eat a banana. Are you taking magnesium? Are you stretching enough?
There is so much advice on how to prevent muscle cramps but what does the latest research actually tell us?
What causes cramps?
Exercising without properly warming up the muscles
Reduced electrolytes - causes the muscles to not completely relax
Fatigue without sufficient rest/buildup of lactic acid
Dehydration - can worsen these problems - research shows older adults often don’t drink enough fluids in order to avoid having to toilet during the night
Reduced blood flow to the muscles - can be from narrowing of the arteries in your legs caused by atherosclerosis or from the cold
Neurologial fatigue or misfiring of the nerves from neurological conditions eg. parkinson’s disease, neuropathy, spine problems
Common poor foot biomechanics eg. flat arches, pronated feet
Certain medications eg. diuretics
Tips to prevent cramps:
Drink electrolyte drinks not just more water!
Many people think that dehydration causes muscle cramps but the latest evidence from Edith Cowan University has shown that people who drank electrolyte-enhanced water during and after exercises were less susceptible to muscle cramps compared to people who drank pure water. In fact, people who drank solely plain water during and after exercise could be more prone to cramps! The reasoning behind this is likely because pure water dilutes the electrolyte concentration in our bodies and doesn’t replace what is lost from sweating.
So consume more isotonic drinks or add 3g of sodium to half a litre of an electrolyte drink!
Ingesting TRP agonists
A study suggested that consuming TRP agonists (transient receptor potential chanel agonists) can reduce muscle-induced cramps by decreasing neuron hyperexcitability. So what are TRP agonists?
Examples of TRP agonists:
Ginger, wasabi, mustard, cinnamon and ginger. So you can add a little bit of these spices to your sport drink to provide muscle relief. Another alternative is a glass of pickle juice!
Stretching vs strengthening?
Studies have shown that stretching may help relieve the effects of post muscle cramping by inhibiting the afferent of the Golgi tendon organ and increasing blood flow to the muscle.
However, specific strengthening has been shown to have a beneficial effect on preventing muscle cramping, particularly during sports. Specifically, endurance training and plyometric training improve neuromuscular control, delay fatigue and create adaptations to the Golgi tendon receptors.
Exercises targeted at increasing endurance and resistance training are shown to reduce early-onset muscle fatigue and will simply make you less prone to cramping. So what type of exercises are these? For the sports population, plyometric training includes explosive powerful activity including box jumps or snatches. For the non-athletes, endurance training involves greater repetitions >15 or working until fatigue eg. 3 x 15 calf raises at least twice per week.
However, if none of these tips seem to relieve the cramping you may want to be reviewed by a physician to exclude an underlying disease. Feel free to notify us if these tips help and what you are personally doing to prevent and relieve muscle cramps!
References:
Wing Yin Lau, Haruyasu Kato, Kazunori Nosaka. Effect of oral rehydration solution versus spring water intake during exercise in the heat on muscle cramp susceptibility of young men. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 2021; 18 (1) DOI: 10.1186/s12970-021-00414-8
Bradley WG, Daroff RB, Fenichel GM, et al. Neurology in clinical practice. 5th ed. Volumes 1 and 2. Philadelphia, PA: Butterworth-Heinemann-Elsevier; 2008.
Katzberg HD. Case studies in management of muscle cramps. Neurol Clin. 2020 Aug;38(3):679-96.
Giuriato G, Pedrinolla A, Schena F, Venturelli M. Muscle cramps: A comparison of the two-leading hypothesis. J Electromyogr Kinesiol. 2018 Aug;41:89-95.