Perhaps you’ve seen sports players on TV wobbling across the field at the end of the game, one leg just refusing to work. Perhaps you’ve observed marathon runners or tri-athlete’s waddle across the finish line because their legs won’t let them run anymore. The problem isn’t necessarilly that these athletes are injured or perhaps overly fatigued, the issue is that their bodies have just run out of fuel. Their muscles have exerted all the energy that they have and as a result have cramped up and stopped working properly.

Cramps are fairly straightforward to diagnose. Whether you are an athlete, coach, or run a home based business tutoring athletes this information will be of help to you. If you’ve ever felt your toes cramp when you take your shoes off at the end of a long day then you know the sensation. What these athletes are experiencing is generally that same pain and stiffness, but it doesn’t stop at their toes. It customarily goes all the way up into their calf and can even go all the way up the leg and into the hip. When this happens it can be very devitalizing and you can’t walk very well until you get the cramp to depart.

The best way to stop cramping is to ensure that you are correctly hydrated and that your body has masses of fuel to perform the activities that you are asking it to. Many times, one can feel the cramp coming on before it really takes hold, but sportsmen and women choose to ignore the symptoms because they need to keep competing. The best thing to do is stop as soon as you feel the original twinges and drink. A sports drink may be a little better than water at this point as it also provides carbohydrates and electrolytes. The carbohydrates are like tiny energy bombs that go straight to your muscles. The electrolytes help your body maintain its sodium levels and permits your body to maximize the liquid that you put in it. Briefly they help you to stay well hydrated.

When an athlete reaches the point at which the cramps have already taken hold, then they need to drink straight away. In order to get the affected muscle group to loosen up, they need to stretch as well. Continuously stretch the muscle till you feel it let go. This may be painful at first, as the muscle is pretty firmly knotted up. While stretching, massage the muscle, as this will also help increase the blood flow and will allow the nutritional elements that you are drinking to be soaked up quickly into the tissue. Keep stretching and massaging until the leg begins to perform naturally again.

You can expect to be pretty sore the day following a bad cramp. When your muscle clenches with that much power it has similarities to the sort of stress that you would put on it when lifting weights. You can get the same sort of muscle soreness from a cramp that you would get from a tough workout.

Filed under: Recreation and Sports

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