Muscle cramps spoiled my chance

You have been running hard all day, and thanks to a season of hard training you are in best condition of your life. Your calf muscle is squeezing uncontrollably and while the sensation passes, your concentration is no longer focused on the game, but rather on whether or not you are going to suffer another muscle cramp.

What is a muscle cramp?

Cramping is a progressive and ‘spasmodic’ involuntary muscle contraction, that occurs during or immediately after muscular exercise. They can be exquisitely painful, as well as detrimental to performance. Cramps will usually involve visible knotting of the muscle, which may in turn lead to abnormal posturing of the affected joint. They can occur in any muscle of the body, although the foot and calf muscles are more commonly involved.

Muscle cramps can occur in a variety of medical and pain related conditions, the majority of which are inherited, and rare. Athletes who suffer from exercise induced muscle cramps do not have these disorders.

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Why do my muscles cramp during sport?

The actual reasons why some individuals suffer from exercise induced muscle cramps is still not completely understood. What you do see is that aerobic fitness is not the limiting factor, as it is often the fittest individuals who suffer. Currently there are 2 basic theories that seem to be most widely recognised.

The first theory is that progressive electrolyte  losses (i.e. Sodium &/or Potassium), from sweating or limited intake, make nerves over excitable, therefore causing muscles to spasm. Its true that certain athletes who sweat considerably during sustained exercise are known to suffer cramp, but keyboard operators and typists may also develop cramps without sweating excessively.

The second reason that has been proposed, is that alterations in spinal reflex activity during muscular fatigue, causes a lack of control, through excitatory effects on neural structures within the muscle. Exercise induced muscle cramps occur when this neural fatigue is added to a contraction of the muscle into its shortest position. The calf muscle is in its shortest position when the toes are pointed (e.g. during running and jumping).

It seems reasonable to assume, at this stage, that exercise induced muscle cramps are caused by a combination of both of the above processes.

Risk Factors

In a study of over 1,300 marathon runners, the most significant factors that predisposed to exercise induced muscle cramps included high intensity long duration running, hill running, and/or individually reported muscular fatigue.

Poor stretching habits, (shorter daily stretching time and irregular stretching habits), were personal risk factors which lead to an increased risk of exercise induced muscle cramps.

What to do when my muscle cramps

If one of your muscles does cramp, stay calm, and think about contracting the muscle with the opposite action. As an example I will use the calf muscle.

The action of the calf muscle is to point your toes, so when the calf muscle cramps, rather than trying to stand up and put the calf muscle on stretch, stay seated and consciously think about pulling your toes slowly towards your face (i.e. the opposite action to pointing your toes).

By doing so you ‘reset’ the reflex drive which is causing your calf muscle to contract uncontrollably. Following the initial relief of the acute cramp, continue to hold the cramping muscle on a prolonged stretch and keep the muscle out of its shortened position, (i.e. don’t point your toes). 

Prevention

Good muscular conditioning for your chosen activity, and sports specific training is associated with improved co-ordination, learning, and synchronisation of muscle activity. Such training activity may improve the quality of your muscles, ligaments and tendons, as well as co-ordination and running economy.

Other preventative strategies include regular stretching of problem areas (e.g. Calf muscles), and maintaining good nutritional habits to prevent premature muscle fatigue.

Pre-event carbohydrate loading and adequate replacement of fluid, energy and electrolytes during endurance competition, reduces the likelihood of muscle energy depletion, fatigue and metabolic changes, which could inturn effect muscle function.

The pre-event meal should be eaten 2-3 hours before competition, and consist primarily of medium to high Glycemic index foods (breakfast cereal and fruit). The aim of such a meal is top up your muscle energy and fluid stores and minimise the tummy upset.

Additional carbohydrates consumed during an event can prevent, reduce or delay muscular fatigue, and improve performance. The type of food chosen during an event should not delay stomach emptying, or cause stomach discomfort.

Sports drinks are the optimum choice, however fruit and other high Glycemic solid foods may be more practical or portable. Solid foods take longer to digest, particularly if they are high in fibre or fat, and you will need to monitor your fluid intake separately.