How To Prevent Muscle Cramps

Muscle cramps happen when a muscle contracts and doesn’t relax and it’s a side effect of exercise. These cramps can occur during exercise, sitting and even sleeping. They can last from a few seconds to 25 minutes or more and they can be painful. Most commonly, they occur in the leg and especially in the calf, quadricep and hamstring areas. There are many reasons that they occur like inadequate stretching and overexertion, which can lead to a build up of lactic acid in the muscles and it occurs more in hot weather.

To help prevent cramps, be sure to stretch before every workout. This helps to keep the muscles flexible and healthy and focus on your breathing while stretching. Warming up before a strenuous workout will help to prevent injuries and helps you to gradually ease into the exercise. Also, avoid eating right before your workout because you will be robbing your digestive system of blood flow, which is necessary for your muscles to work. Hydration is key to any diet, but muscles are made up of mostly water, so you need to stay hydrated to keep them at their best.

Although there is no cure for cramps, there are things you can do to minimize the occurrences of them. After a heavy workout, massage your muscles before going to bed and stretch daily, even if you don’t exercise. Maintain a diet that is rich in calcium, potassium and vitamin E. There are over the counter pain relievers such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen, but only use these when nothing else seems to work.