Cramping Prevention?

Now that summer and warmer weather is upon us I was wondering what some of your guys ways are of preventing cramping. I had a super bad episode last night and would rather not go through that again. I already drink lots of water, Stretch like a mad man, take daily vitamins to try to keep up my electrolytes. I did however just notice my multivitamin is lacking potassium. I currently am not taking any whey protein either wondering if this would also help. Any tips or advice would be great I know i cant be the only one sweating off a excessive amounts during practice.

Bananas like mad.

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Originally Posted by Dylan Ehrnreiter

Bananas like mad.

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And don't cut your sodium too hard. Make sure you have a little to retain some water in your muscle. Continue hydrating and take a potassium supplement whether it's in the form of fruit or pill form.

Magnesium also bro. Look it up.

Take a look a bunch of different diuretics and see if these are your routine. Coffee or a bunch of different Teas can tweak your system. As always what your losing has to be replaced or it can effect you. If I don't rehydrate from the following night you'll feel it the next day. Especially if you are training hard 6-7 days a week.

yea i try to get my basic electrolytes back in me ie potassium,mag,sodium, etc i think yesterday may have been to much water with a lack of sodium to keep some in me as John said. I dont drink pop or coffee so caffeine isnt a huge issue. The gym i work out at was easily in the mid 80's last night and we went hard for about 2 hours got about half the guys getting ready for fights at the end of the month and the other half including me getting ready for NAGA in Hartford. So just sweated a ridiculous amount with lots of muscle fatigue from the rolling and such.

Drink tons of coconut water. Most cramping is caused by dehydration, and not only is coconut water a liquid(lol) but its isotonic so your bodys cells will actually absorb it much better than water and it will hydrate you realistically, and as far as how you feel much better. Also: coconut water has more potassium than a banana, and training rapidly depletes your potassium levels, so eat some bananas or like said above just drink coconut water :D

Stop watching lifetime....it should stop after that!.....

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Originally Posted by DanConway

Drink tons of coconut water. Most cramping is caused by dehydration, and not only is coconut water a liquid(lol) but its isotonic so your bodys cells will actually absorb it much better than water and it will hydrate you realistically, and as far as how you feel much better. Also: coconut water has more potassium than a banana, and training rapidly depletes your potassium levels, so eat some bananas or like said above just drink coconut water :D

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Agree coco water works wonders for me.

Coconut water will change your life dude.

One Banana a day should make a huge difference.

Coconut Water, really? My wife's Brazilian and loves it. I'll ask her to double up on her next purchase.

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Originally Posted by DanConway

Drink tons of coconut water. Most cramping is caused by dehydration, and not only is coconut water a liquid(lol) but its isotonic so your bodys cells will actually absorb it much better than water and it will hydrate you realistically, and as far as how you feel much better. Also: coconut water has more potassium than a banana, and training rapidly depletes your potassium levels, so eat some bananas or like said above just drink coconut water :D

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Pretty much these are all the benefits of coconut water. They really make the difference after hard training and weight cutting especially.

I seen something about the coconut water in a gracie breakdown awhile ago have to check into it, any place good to buy it besides like a GNC as that there over priced. And the comment bout lifetime was +1 lol.

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Originally Posted by DavidHamp

I seen something about the coconut water in a gracie breakdown awhile ago have to check into it, any place good to buy it besides like a GNC as that there over priced. And the comment bout lifetime was +1 lol.

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Yeah, whole foods is the best place to get it locally in most cases, amazon.com for online. But take note: Not all coconut waters are created equal. Firsts make sure its Coconut WATER not coconut MILK or JUICE. Most things labeled coconut juice etc are not just pure raw baby coconut water. Also make sure theres NO preservatives etc, coconut water doesn't really need one and the good brands have NOTHING but coconut water in them, period. Alot of brands put sulfuric smelling/tasting preservatives in, especially the ones that contain pulp, which is a deal breaker. I suspect these kinds of brands are what result in most people who 'tried coconut water once didnt like it, but do now that they have again'.

Also, the location of the coconuts makes a differnce, thai coconuts are reputably sweeter than brazilian, and even with the same sugar levels taste sweeter so brands sourcing from south america are typically not as tasty as the ones from thailand. Even in thailand, the taste between differnt coconut farms can be pretty wide. The Top brands reviewed by trusted users such as Joe Rogan and the general top ratings on amazon:

C20 Coconut Water
Taste Nirvana Coconut Water
Amy and Brians Coconut Water

These are all sourced from thailand, and taste MUCH better than vitacoco or zico. I find taste nirvana to be the sweetest of the three, but C20 is close and is the most affordable. At Whole Foods you can get a large can, i think 17.5 FL, for like 2$, which is better than the 3$ for a smaller vitacoco from elsewhere.

Awesome online is deff going to be my choice I live in no where Michigan which means no Whole Foods or anything like that anywhere close by.

I still have this issue with my calves but I've cut it down a good bit thanks to some knowledge from Mr. Pavel Tsatsouline.

Most of the time, the reason muscles cramp isn't because of some acute electrolyte deficiency, but because the muscle is stretching beyond what it "considers" safe, and contracts painfully to reign it back in.

The solution is to gradually "convince" your muscles that stretching that far is safe. And it is. Your muscles are already capable of full splits and other freaky things. They are inherently long enough. In other words, stretch the problem muscle and CONTRACT it during the stretch. Then as you release the contraction, immediately stretch a bit further. This is Pavel's "relax into stretch" protocol. (Awesome book by the way, available online)

I suspect what's behind the banana eating craze is the addictive insulin spike that comes from eating such a starchy fruit. Avocados have more potassium than bananas and are way healthier...

I almost guarantee that it wasnt a stretching issue, i wake up and stretch i do yoga(at home) stretch before and after practice. Havent had an issue til the warmer practices were i'm prolly losing 5lbs on average of water weight per practice. Also my cramping didnt hit til about an hour after practice then it was full body legs by my ribs triceps chest. It was prolly the worst thing ever.

Ill throw my paramedic 2 cents in. The coconut water and the electrolytes are all excellent advice. The only thing I would add is that dehydration dosent start the day you have symptoms. It started a couple days before just not keeping ahead of the curve with the electrolytes and fluids. If you're training in a gym thats hot like you said you'll lose water/ fluids super quick, coupled with the weather getting hotter, you gotta hammer the fluids! If you're properly hydrated your urine will be clear and you should be peeing about once every 45 minutes to an hour. I know its alot! But believe me. I live in central Texas and its ungodly hot. I run this type of environmental emergency all the time. Also you lose fluid over night as well so I would say start hitting the fluids first thing in the morning. As a side note if the cramps come back, get the electrolytes on board and a little Ibuprofen because unlike Tylenol, Ibuprofen is an anti inflamitory. Also I would be more than happy to come up and place a 14 guage IV cath in your AC and rehydrate you that way! Who dosent love having a McDonalds straw stabbed in their arm??!!

Much respect Sir I had my EMT-B lisence but let it expire as i could not find a job in the area :( but yea I deff have up'd my intakes feeling good and ready to do some work on the mats

Just because you are drinking plenty of water does not mean that you are "getting" enough. That is to say that if you train and sweat a lot, you will have low levels of electrolytes, which will make it difficult for you to regain and hold the correct amount of water. Many people suggest bananas because of their potassium content. The fact is that there are lots of other ways to get potassium. Kiwi actually has a high concentration of potassium by weight and coconut water is also a good source. Potassium is just a useful electrolyte. Also, if you are low-carbing, it makes it difficult to take water into the muscle because this is done along with glycogen; something which is depleted with a low carb diet. Fruit carbs (fructose sugar in general) is useless for reloading glycogen into muscle, so stick with starches. You may try a gatorade and half a roll of sweet tarts a half hour before training and see if that helps to remedy the cramping. Stretching a cramp can be bad news, btw (stretching a "dry" muscle or a cold muscle is generally a bad idea). I hope that this helps.

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Originally Posted by waltsettlemyre

Ill throw my paramedic 2 cents in. The coconut water and the electrolytes are all excellent advice. The only thing I would add is that dehydration dosent start the day you have symptoms. It started a couple days before just not keeping ahead of the curve with the electrolytes and fluids. If you're training in a gym thats hot like you said you'll lose water/ fluids super quick, coupled with the weather getting hotter, you gotta hammer the fluids! If you're properly hydrated your urine will be clear and you should be peeing about once every 45 minutes to an hour. I know its alot! But believe me. I live in central Texas and its ungodly hot. I run this type of environmental emergency all the time. Also you lose fluid over night as well so I would say start hitting the fluids first thing in the morning. As a side note if the cramps come back, get the electrolytes on board and a little Ibuprofen because unlike Tylenol, Ibuprofen is an anti inflamitory. Also I would be more than happy to come up and place a 14 guage IV cath in your AC and rehydrate you that way! Who dosent love having a McDonalds straw stabbed in their arm??!!

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14 gauge?! Really?? wowzers! :eek: You could be a little nicer and use something a bit smaller...

Caffeine makes me cramp up. I could drink something like coffee early in the morning and it will still mess with me training in the afternoon. Milk also makes me cramp up. Might be some kind of lactose intolerant thing.