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Everyone gets muscle cramps when they exercise at some point, but why is it that some people suffer more than others, even though they drink plenty of water?
Insufficient conditioning and fatigue during a workout can be a cause of muscle cramps - but passive stretching, icing and massage can often resolve them. Such is not the case for muscle cramps that happen in the heat. These specific cramps are usually the cause of salt loss and dehydration. Why Do We Get Cramps?Cramps that happen in the heat often occur during prolonged training when there has been a lot of sweating. Large losses of fluid and sodium can both be factors to why individuals suffer with heat cramps. Because sodium plays an important role in initiating signals from nerves to action movement of the muscles, low sodium can reduce the coordination of nerves and muscles, resulting in spontaneous muscle contractions or cramping. How Much Do We Lose?When exercise conditions get warmer, adults can lose one to two and a half litres of sweat per hour. How much an individual will lose depends on many factors including temperature, humidity, the intensity of the exercise and even his fitness level. An increase in any one of these tends to increase sweating. Sweat is mostly comprised of water but also contains the minerals sodium, chloride, potassium, calcium and magnesium. However, the amounts of potassium, calcium and magnesium are very low compared to the amounts of sodium and chloride. These minerals are also easily replaced by the diet and the muscles tend to store them more than sodium and chloride. Preventing CrampsSince an individual is losing large amounts of fluid and sodium, it only makes sense to replace these two during training. Most of the sports drinks you can buy today are ideal – find one that suits your own taste. Remember to drink little and often. Many people tend to forget to hydrate until it is too late - when they have lost at least two percent of their body weight and their performance is suffering. The key is to drink every 15 to 20 minutes. This will help keep the body hydrated and replace the sodium that it has lost in sweat. Preventing cramps begins with replacing fluid and sodium losses during and after training or competition. For salty sweaters or if an individual is expected to have a higher sweat rate, additional sodium is required in their beverages and their daily diet. Water Just Isn’t EnoughWhen the body is dehydrated it can seriously reduce that person’s performance when it comes to sport – sometimes water just isn’t enough. Next time you grab a drink have a think about your sodium levels.
The copyright of the article Why Do We Get Muscle Cramps? in Fitness is owned by Darryl Wilkinson. Permission to republish Why Do We Get Muscle Cramps? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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