How to prevent muscle cramps?

I know previously I have discussed how to minimise the risk factors associate with muscle cramps including during pregnancy.

Exercise Related Muscle Cramps

May occur during, after or in some case many hours after vigorous activity.  In addition to minimising the risk factors I have previously documented you need to ensure you

  1. Don’t exercise when injured – cramps can occur as a protective mechanism following an injury.
  2. Warm up thoroughly
  3. Stretch before and after exercise
  4. Cool down properly
  5. Don’t over do it – their is a clear correlation between muscle fatigue and cramps.  In addition if you suddenly place a huge physical demand on the body (e.g. a late spurt to win the race) that it is not used to, your body can react by contracting all the muscle and creating cramps.  So remember to follow a suitable training program before entering that competition!

Rest Cramps

Night cramps and other rest cramps can often be prevented by regular stretching exercises particularly before going to bed.  The most common night cramps are in the calf muscles, to stretch this muscle

  1. Stand about 2 or 2.5 feet away from a wall.  Lean into the wall to place the forearms against the wall with the knees and back straight and the heels in contact with the floor. Hold for 10 to 15 seconds and repeat three times before going to bed.
  2. In bed while lying down, you can try flexing the ankle by pulling the toes up toward the head with the leg as straight as possible.

Related Posts

  • Is the way you breathing causing your neck pain? – Part 2

    In my last post, I explained how both your scalenes and sternocleidomastoid can become both tense and painful from shallow breathing.   Obviously deep breathing will help as it will address the cause.  But what if you have a bad habit of shallow breathing, and know its causing tension in your neck muscles? First there are some stretches that will help.

    • Sternocleidomastoid Stretch
    scm_stretchThe sternocleidomastoid muscle runs like two long strap-like muscles on either side of the front of the neck. To stretch it, rotate the head to one side as far as is comfortable. Then tilt the head to the same side, as if trying to reach the ear to the shoulder. Hold for 30 seconds and then repeat on the other side of your neck.
    • Scalenes Stretch
    The scalenes muscle groups is made of three muscles; anterior scalene, middle scalene & posterior scalene.  Due to the location of these muscle tightness can contribute to tension headaches & can refer pain both to the chest and shoulder.  In addition the brachial plexus a network of nerves that supplies signals to the shoulder and arm.  Therefore tension within these muscles can also restrict these nerve signals, causing pain and pins & needles (paraesthesia) down the arm to the hand. Stretching the scalenes is relatively easy. Start by sitting in a chair. Put your right hand under your bottom and sit on it. This pins the shoulder down so that your neck can stretch without raising the shoulder. Tilt your head directly to the left bringing your left ear towards your left shoulder. If you don’t feel much of a stretch, bring your left hand up to Gently pull your head down towards the left more. Hold for 30 seconds. Repeat this stretch tilting the head slightly in front of and behind the shoulder as well. This stretch can also be done lying down. See picture below. scalenes_stretch
                  Finally you can book a Seated Acupressure Neck & Shoulder massage.

  • Benefits of Deep Tissue Massage when compared to Seated Acupressure Massage

    Just because you have a Neck or Shoulder problem it doesn't mean Seated Acupressure Massage is the best treatment for you.  There are many benefits of Deep Tissue Massage for Neck & Shoulder problems and I wanted to share some: Because Deep Tissue Massage is carried out on a massage table allows us to use a greater variety of advanced techniques (which are not able to utilise while you are sitting in an oniste massage chair).  By ustilising all our massaging applicators and advanced techniques it makes Deep Tissue Massage more effective at:

    • Alleviate pain
    • Restore flexibility
    • Address muscle spasms
    • Address knots
    Deep Tissue Massage is more flexible so we can reach all the affected muscles.  For example with Seated Acupressure Massage we only treat some of the muscles and don't do any work on the chest.  If you have poor posture then Deep Tissue Massage can open up your chest which is normally tightens up when you have poor posture. Put simply Deep Tissue Massage is best for addressing problems with your Neck or Shoulder while Seated Acupressure Massage is best for reducing stress and anxiety.

  • Cryotherapy

    We all know that sports stars take ice baths and I am often asked why they do it, and do I need to do it after I run.  So today I am going to answer that question. Cryotherapy is one of long accepted tools of a sports masseur.  If you have ever watched a football match on telly, you will have seen someone fall to the ground and the coach run on with a bucket of water and the magic sponge and the player then hopefully gets up and hobbles around before taking an active part in the game.  So the magic sponge, (the application of cold water to an injured area) is Cyrotherapy in its most basic form.  The local application of ice or cold water is beneficial because

    • It relieves pain
    • Reduces muscle spams (i.e. athletes take ice baths to avoid feeling stiff the next day)
    • When someone is injured it moderates inflammation
    Probably equally important to all those benefits is that the treatment is very convenient, inexpensive and effective. So to go back to the questions should I have an ice bath after training. If you have injured yourself during training you should definitely follow the RICE (Rest Ice Compression and Elevation) protocol
    • Rest - by which I mean avoid weight bearing activities and anything that causes pain for 24 - 48 hours.
    • Ice - Use either cold water or ice wrapped in a tea towel and apply for 2 - 20 minutes for 2-3 days then 3 times daily.    When applying ice you go through the cold, aching, burning and numbness sensation cycle, it is very important to stop at numbness to avoid burning yourself.
    • Compression  - use a compression bandage if necessary
    • Elevation - if the injury is to a limb, elevate it to help it heal.
    The only exception to using Ice for injuries is for people with a peripheral vascular disease e.g. diabetes, anyone who is hypersensitive or has a physiological aversion to cold if you are frail or if you have varicose veins in the injured area or  the injury is a broken bone. However, what if you haven't injured yourself, should you have an ice bath after training.    Taking an ice bath or sometimes a cold-water immersion is certainly now more popular amongst athletes than ever before.   The key reason is that as it reduces muscle tightness and soreness and it allows athletes to recover more quickly after intense training.   The big draw back is that is uncomfortable and not really scientifically proven.  My recommendation would be only to do it if you are training really intensively and you are not contraindicated (see above exceptions to using ice) and want to, as ice baths are optional.  For me the most important thing to prevent injury and allow you to recover quickly is a well designed training plan where you build up the intensity of the exercise slowly, with adequate warm up routine and a cool down routine and stretching. Remember if you do get injured or have tight muscles after training, a good masseur will be able to sort these out.