Stop Muscle Cramps Quickly With These 4 Tips

musclebeauty77

New member
Cramps stitches,*charlie horses... There are a bunch of names.

Muscle spasms ruin your workout, hinder your performance at a powerlifting competition, and are just literally a pain in the butt.*If you've had to deal with full body cramping, you understand the pain. The unforgivable pain you wake up to in the middle of the night when your calf feels like it is ripping out.

our arms are the most prone to cramping.
Fortunately, there are a few things you can do to help prevent cramps. If you are already cramping, we have some tips to help treat them.

Let's get into it.

Why Do Cramps Happen?

No matter what you call them, a muscle cramp is a strong and painful involuntary contraction or tightening of a muscle. These often occur in our legs and it sucks.

Cramps happen usually due to prolonged physical labor or activity, especially in hotter weather.
While some cramps come from medications and you have no control over that, there are plenty of things you can try to prevent cramps and stop them in their tracks.

While cramps are harmless, there may be an underlying medical condition making you cramp.*Some of those include:

Poor circulation*- Your arteries in your legs narrow and the delivery of blood to your legs are slowed. This generally goes away after you stop exercising. Look into some compression socks or ask your doctor ways you can improve your circulation.

Nerve compression*- Nerves in your spine get compressed and can feel like a cramp in your legs. Generally, the longer you walk, the worse it feels. Look into a chiropractor or an inversion table to help loosen the area around the compression.

Mineral depletion*- One of the most common reasons we cramp, having too little*potassium, calcium, or magnesium in your diet will make you cramp. Taking a diuretic such as a high blood pressure pill also will deplete these minerals.

How Do You Prevent Cramps?

So now that we know what a cramp is and why it happens, let's see how we can prevent them in the first place.

First and foremost, drink plenty of water. Even a slight dehydration can cause muscle spasms. I would put money on it that a majority of us go around slightly dehydrated. This leads to lethargy, and other performance hindering symptoms.

Electrolytes. Get some*electrolytes*in your system. Electrolytes control many bodily functions. We need to consistently manage our electrolytes, not try to "catch them up." Drink a sports drink with electrolytes, drink some pickle juice, or eat a banana.

Try a multivitamin. Using a multivitamin will boost our magnesium, zinc, and vitamins B, D, and E. While these don't directly affect if you cramp or not, keeping up on these will help decrease the likelihood and ease the pain.

Warm up, cool down. Spend time to warm up and cool down properly. Getting your body temperature up, your nervous system ready, and your muscles prepared for activity is important to maintaining your cramps. Move before and after you train for optimal performance. This is also called active recovery.

What Do You Do If You Are Already Cramping?

So you went and sweat out all of your electrolytes and you haven't properly rehydrated... It happens to all of us.*So you're dealing with cramps and wondering what you can do to stop them, right?

The first thing you should do is start rehydrating and replenish your electrolytes. You need to maintain electrolyte intake throughout the day; eating a variety of fruits and veggies will help keep your nutrients up.

Stretch the area next. Help the muscle relax and the death grip it has on you will let up. Stretch, foam roll, or treat yourself to a nice massage.

The last thing you should try if nothing else helps is to grab some anti-inflammatory medication. Always check with your doctor before you take any medication.

Wrapping It Up

Everyone gets cramps. The actions you take before and after your physical activity will dictate the likelihood of you getting them.

Keep drinking water, replenish your electrolytes consistently, and eat a variety of nutritious foods.

Try supplementing your diet with a nice multivitamin and be sure to move around before and after your workout so your blood will shuttle needed nutrients to the muscles.

If you're already cramping and need to stay in the game, drink some pickle juice. A wise man once had me eat some pickles and drink some juice at my first powerlifting meet, and it helped within minutes.

Stretch the area cramping and try to relax. Lastly, try some anti-inflammatory meds to fight off those intolerable cramps.

If you follow these tips and still have cramps, please do yourself a favor and get it checked out. There could be some medical complications that could impact your heart. You know, your heart is a muscle too

Musclebeauty
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I regularly get calf cramps and dry needling and acupuncture helps tremendously, i'd say its the only thing that removes cramps totally for me.
Usually have to do it once a month while on cycle and tried taurine, supplements, and vitamins but they just alleviate the cramps but never remove them.

Rarely, if ever cramp outside of cycles though.
 
Good Article ~ just wanted to add.

I have Nerve Damage in my Lower Spine that effects my Calves.
They can Cramp-up when I walk Too Much, or do Too Many Reps on a Calf Exercise.

The Worst for me is at Night, if my Calves get Too Cold, this will result in an Extremely Painful Cramping.

I've started wearing "Calf Compression Sleeves" at night to keep this from happening.

They can also help if you are a Runner and get Cramps, or just from Weight Lifting...................... JP
P.S.
You can find a Great Selection on Amazon.
Just make sure to get 1 size larger, as the Less Expensive ones can be really tight.
The $40 and over per pair are Graduated in their Compression, so they fit much better.
 
I preserve my own pickles, and all varieties of them down to pickle relish for my hot dogs and always included a pickle or two in my daily meals and also follow it up with a shot of the pickle juice and never have any issues with cramps thank goodness. THanks for the extra tips.
 
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I preserve my own pickles, and all varieties of them down to pickle relish for my hot dogs and always included a pickle or two in my daily meals and also follow it up with a shot of the pickle juice and never have any issues with cramps thank goodness. THanks for the extra tips.

This has to be the most american thing i've ever read on ology, you guys do love pickles with anything ;)
Hotdogs, do you really eat that crap? makes my stomach twist just thinking about what they're made off.
 
If you dont want to buy sports drink, you could make cucumber water, just slice up a whole cucumber into a liter water and put in fridge for 24 hours.
Full of electrolytes :)

Also tastes better than pickle juice!!
 
This has to be the most american thing i've ever read on ology, you guys do love pickles with anything ;)
Hotdogs, do you really eat that crap? makes my stomach twist just thinking about what they're made off.

Whats the matter with lips & assholes?
 
This has to be the most american thing i've ever read on ology, you guys do love pickles with anything ;)
Hotdogs, do you really eat that crap? makes my stomach twist just thinking about what they're made off.

I knew someone was going to bust on me for saying pickles so many times but i do love a good pickle now and then. all good and fun.
and yes i do love hot dogs as well but only when i make them myself as everything at the store is plastic or whattever it is.
 
If you dont want to buy sports drink, you could make cucumber water, just slice up a whole cucumber into a liter water and put in fridge for 24 hours.
Full of electrolytes :)

Also tastes better than pickle juice!!

wow i never thought of that i will start doing that as well. has anyone else noticed that we have been talking about pickles, hot dogs and cucumbers? all about the same length??
and pickle juice tastes awesome, i drink it when i feel down and need a pick me upper as it makes me feel good and gets the blood flowing. love my pickle juice!!!!:wiggle:
 
Whats the matter with lips & assholes?

hey i love lips and a**holes in my hot dogs as much as the next guy, the mustard, ketchup, chili preaty much takes all that flavor away anyway. and did you know that in France the chefs there consider chicken butts a delicacy? the horror
 
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This has to be the most american thing i've ever read on ology, you guys do love pickles with anything ;)
Hotdogs, do you really eat that crap? makes my stomach twist just thinking about what they're made off.

Id say yes to that but the recipe that i use to pickle my pickles actually comes from Germany where my grandmother is from so its more European that american.
 
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