What Are Cramps : It’s Causes & Solutions For Athletes

Whether the athlete has a high level or Sunday, he is not immune to a cramp or involuntary muscle contraction, painful, which lasts a few moments. It is often possible to pass by gently stretching the muscle.

To best prevent these cramps, it is imperative to hydrate well, not skimp on the warm-up before physical exercise, and stretch the muscles at the end of each training session. The sports equipment and material used must be suitable. It is important not to tense up on a movement, always find the correct position.

A muscle by contracting allows you to move; it needs oxygen to function correctly. Otherwise, it is in anoxia (not enough oxygen). Cramps are caused by the involuntary contraction of one or more muscles belonging to the same group (ensuring the same movement). This sudden and intense contraction of the muscle can be due to several causes.

Cramps can occur at any time of the day, more commonly after heavy physical exercise or sometimes without prior effort. They can result from a deficiency in iron, magnesium, calcium, or others and overuse of the muscle.

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Here Are Few Causes Of Cramps

The pain of the cramp is caused by intense muscle contraction, which results in a sudden increase in intramuscular pressure. This contraction can have several causes:

1. Poorly Adapted Sports Training

Cramps very often due to sports training that is ill-suited to the patient’s physical form. It can be a person who is not sufficiently trained who starts playing sports with too intense physical exercises to begin.

If you resume physical culture, after taking a break for a few months, follow a very gradual fitness program to prepare yourself but do not overestimate yourself. It is often proof that the athlete, in full motion, is stopped dead by a cramp (football players at the end of the match). For cyclists, excess muscle fatigue can also cause cramps.

2. Poorly Adapted Sports Equipment

Sometimes, it is the sports equipment that is poorly adapted: for example, shoes with a lousy arch, or too small, not adapted to the sport practised, a tennis racket handle that is too small on which the hand is clenched. Can the causes of the occurrence of this type of cramp.

Use the right equipment, it evolves a lot, takes advice from specialist sellers, and finds out about equipment improvements.

3. The Cramps that wake you up at night

Many people complain of cramps in the middle of the night, forcing them to get up and walk a few minutes before they disappear.

They can be due to isolated dehydration or caused by intense physical exercise during the day; they can also be due to a lousy bed position. People with venous insufficiency in the lower limbs may also have night time cramps.

Another cause is a metabolic imbalance, not enough magnesium or calcium, but it is often tough to determine the cause. Inadequate hydration can also be the cause of cramps.

Note: the writer’s cramp, it can be due to a particular pathology, but it is often due to improper use of the muscles of the hand resulting in the poor grip of the pencil, the hand then does not have an ergonomic position, that is to say, adapted to the repetitive movement of writing. It is not painful, but it is disabling. You have to “relearn” to write with a physiotherapist.

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How To get Treatment For Cramps

Before intervening with drug treatment, it is necessary to extend the muscle and thwart the movement gently. Take the calf for example: by contracting, it allows the extension of the foot on the leg (to make points); if it is the site of a cramp, the foot should be gently bent forward at a right angle to the leg, or by walking on the heels. When this is not enough, it is possible to use cold products sold on the market or to massage the muscle gently.

To calm a cramp in the foot’s arch, bend the toes forward, grasping them with your whole hand to extend the tiny muscles under the foot. If the cramp does not go away, it can also bandage the foot with an elastic band such as Velpeau or a scarf for a few moments (be careful not to make a tourniquet!).

Your best bet is to see a sports doctor if these cramps are repeated with physical activity for the Best Treatment.

If these cramps are spontaneous, a consultation with a general practitioner is recommended. If they become very repetitive, you can consult a neurologist or a specialist in functional rehabilitation.

Depending on the clinical examination, may prescribe additional tests. Note that today, quinine-based drugs to combat cramps are generally not recommended.

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Advice For Athletes

To limit cramps: warming up, stretching. Warm-up gently, quietly for at least 20 minutes. After your workout, stretch, stretch the muscles that have worked the most, and practice breathing movements that will better oxygenate the blood.

If you exercise, hydrate!

It is essential to drink a lot during physical exercise, whatever the sporting level. Drink regularly before, throughout the workout and of course after. We must not wait to be thirsty.

The sweating causes a loss of water and minerals (sweat is salty) and must compensate for the losses. It is essential to stay hydrated.

There are “powders” to be dissolved in water, or ready-made solutions with mineral salts, sugar, vitamins, but they are expensive on the market.

Some fruits are popular and taken by sports persons: suppose bananas are rich in potassium and sugars slow, nuts enough calories and takes up little space were full of minerals, citrus fruits are rich in vitamin C.

Athletes each have their own “trick” for getting over cramps; in their first aid kit, they have almost all their products based on magnesium, potassium, homeopathic , herbal medicine .