Why do we get muscle cramps?
March 31, 2022
Have you ever been woken up during the night by a sudden painful muscle cramp? These can occur at any time whether it’s during our sleep, pregnancy, or during strenuous physical exercise. But have you wondered why is this happening?
Muscle cramps are sudden, involuntary, and painful muscle contractions which self-extinguish within seconds to minutes. Any muscle can be affected but the muscles in the calf and foot are particularly prone to happen more than others. The exact cause of cramps is still unknown but there are some risk factors as to why this is occurring: poor physical condition, mineral and electrolyte imbalance (potassium, sodium & magnesium), dehydration or tight and fatigued muscles. What generally happens, is you feel a sudden sensation of uncontrollable and painful spasm in the muscle and it twitches.
There are treatment options or preventative strategies that can help, but there isn’t enough research yet to understand which treatment or strategy works best. Nevertheless, there are interventions available for the treatment. These treatment options include:
- Stretch and massage the affected muscle – lengthen the cramping muscle using a gentle, sustained stretch then lightly massage the area until the cramp subsides.
- Decrease exercise intensity - ensure you are getting enough rest after your physical activity.
- Sports Drinks- These contain electrolytes and minerals including sodium, potassium, magnesium, and chloride. They are essential for muscle health and help the body to absorb water.
- Pickle Juice- it’s becoming a popular treatment especially in the high-level athlete world but more research is to be completed.
- Further treatment – see your doctor if you experience regular muscle cramping or if cramps last longer than a few minutes. You may have an undiagnosed medical condition that requires treatment.
There also some strategies we can use to prevent muscle cramps from occurring. These are some suggestions which you can apply to reduce the likelihood of them happening.
- Increase your level of physical fitness.
- To do reasonable/moderate stretching before exercise.
- To respect pause/rest during exercise and/or between exercises/competition.
- Drink plenty of water before, during and after exercise.
- Make sure your diet is nutritionally adequate and include plenty of fruits and vegetables.
If you notice that you are getting muscle cramps on a regular basis or the pain is severe, it’s best to book in a visit with your GP as there could be some underlying medical issues.
References:
Qiu, J & Kang, J. (2017) The Scientific Pages of Sports Medicine. Exercise Associated Muscle Cramps- A Current Perspective. 3-14
Miller.K.C, Stone. M.S, Huxel.K.C & Edwards. J. E (2010). Sports Health Atheltic Training. Exercise-Associated Muscle Cramps: Causes, Treatment, and Prevention. 278-281
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1. Time of Day Identify, if you haven’t already, if you are a morning person or a night owl. Now I don’t necessary mean whether you struggle to wake up before 8am or find it impossible to fall asleep until the clocks strikes 12. I mean, identify when the BEST time is for YOU to complete 45-60 minutes of uninterrupted regular structured exercise (RSE). This can take time, but once you do find the ideal time of day for your RSE, stick to it, make plans AROUND your RSE time and make that time for yourself. Be firm but also be fair to yourself when life inevitably creeps back in to dismantle your routines. Find ways to work around it, and make it work for you. 2. Buddy System Call on a partner, friend, family member, colleague, or your furry loved ones. This person should ideally be someone who you can hold accountable, and who you know will hold you accountable. In no way do you have to train together, bonus points if you do, but they are there to encourage, support, and empower you to get to your fitness destination. 3. Goal Setting Like a lot of aspects in our lives a way to maintain consistency throughout your fitness journey is goal setting. Goal setting is a very powerful way to turn a dream or a thought into an actionable and achievable task. The simplest way to set a goal is to follow the SMART goal process. Specificity: What is it you are looking to target? Improve strength – okay, stronger in what exactly? Lose weight – absolutely, how much weight? Measurable: Can the above specific goal be measured if so, how? Achievable: Is the goal realistic or is it far-fetched. It's okay to have big goals, but it's more important to break your big goals down into smaller, more achievable goals. Relevant: Apply the goal to your life, a goal becomes reality before you know it if the goal has relevance to you. i.e. a running race coming up, would require you to train more, or maybe your wedding is on the horizon and you want to be in the best shape of your life. Time bound: The final element of any excellent goal is setting a time-based deadline. Now this doesn’t mean it’s the end, far from it, this is where you will evaluate your goal against your performance, and in turn, set another goal. 4. Have a Spot This can mean a lot of different things for a lot of different people, and can greatly depend upon your goals (yes, a call back). For many people obtaining a gym membership is the ideal way to train and maintain consistency, for others, a home-based gym with the necessities is all they need, for some a good pair of running shoes and their favourite running loop. Having a dedicated space is very important however, can be different for everyone, find what works the BEST for you. 5. Practice Like many aspects of our life, the more we do any one thing, the better we get. The same applies to behavioural changes like consistency. The first weeks can be easy because its new and exciting, or it can be daunting because its new and terrifying. However, in a roundabout sort of way, the key to consistency specifically with exercise, is finding the BEST form of exercise for YOU. Find the one where you get the most enjoyment from and run with it (pun intended). Lachlan Simpson Workers Compensation Specialist (AEP, ESSAM) Exercise Rehabilitation Services ‑ QLD
