Muscle Cramps

Muscle Cramps

* Always consult a medical professional for any type of illness or injury.

We are not medical professionals and offer our opinions as "veterans" of the sport only.

Medical professionals are the best at assessing the extent and proper treatment of wounds. If in doubt, get medical care.

What are the treatments for the condition?

The immediate treatment of a charley horse or muscle cramp is to stretch and gently massage the muscle. Most skaters will experience a calf cramp. To stop a calf cramp:

Grasp the muscle with one hand and pull back on the toes with the other.

Point toes upward to help relieve the spasm. Walking may also help, especially if one walks with full weight on the heels.

Use ice packs for severe cases. This reduces blood flow to the muscles and relaxes them.

If exercising, drink water to prevent or correct dehydration.

If you've been skating or exercising for a long time, especially in hot weather, loss of minerals may cause muscle cramps.

What Causes Cramping

First, understand what causes cramping. Muscle fatigue, salt loss, and dehydration. All three acting together - play a role in muscle cramping. Consider this: on a hot day a 250 lb-football player can easily lose as much as one gallon of sweat in the course of a game. In losing that much sweat, the player can also lose enough sodium chloride to equal 2 to 3 teaspoons of table salt. Compared to the trivial loses of potassium, calcium, and magnesium in sweat, the loss of sodium can be huge.

The Loss of Sodium

Why worry about losing sodium? Sodium is key not only to maintain blood volume but also to help nerves fire and muscles work. Sodium depletion short-circuits the coordination of nerves and muscles as muscles contract and relax. The result can be muscle cramping. Athletes most prone to disabling whole-body cramps are those most lean and fit, intense and explosive at their position, who take many reps in the heat, sweat early and heavily, and cake with salt… speed skaters for example. So the first line of defense against cramping is to encourage your skaters to consume more salt and drink enough of the right fluids. I sweat more than most and I find that after about 2 hours of intense training I begin to cramp up... especially when it's hot outside. I've tried a lot of drinks to help relieve the cramping... the best drink I've used is Cytomax. I can spend 4 hours in the heat at the banked track and as long as I am sipping on Cytomax throughout the training, I rarely cramp up. I would highly recommend this product.

A Balanced Diet

We advocate a balanced diet and recommend the best beverages for skaters before, during and even after training… especially outdoor training in the heat (although with some rink owners it’s just as hot inside!).

Hydration Options

Options for hydration include various sports drinks and bottled waters, all claiming to help athletes reach peak performance. In hot and sweaty weather, it is vital that athletes choose the right fluids to stay hydrated and maintain a healthy balance of electrolytes, most importantly sodium, to help prevent muscle cramping. Sports drinks taste good, which encourages players to keep drinking, and contain sodium (Gatorade thirst quencher has 110 mg in 8 oz) to help fend off muscle cramping. Water, which contains almost no sodium, is not the best choice as your only drink in hot, humid playing conditions. Once again, I recommend Cytomax.

Myths on Preventing Muscle Cramping

And then there are the myths. Some coaches have used super-salty sources like pickle juice, mustard and even antacids as quick, on-field "fixes" for sodium-related muscle cramping. There is no scientific evidence to support these remedies and, in most cases, they provide too much salt and not enough fluid.

For most athletes, a balanced diet containing some salty foods and proper hydration with a sports drink will suffice to stave off cramping. For those who are prone to severe muscle cramps or who are "salty sweaters" , that may not be enough. Players with extreme cramps need even more sodium, which they can get by adding ¼ teaspoon salt to a 16 to 20 oz beverage.

Preventing heat cramps is all about what athletes put in their body. Keep yourself well hydrated and replace sodium and other electrolytes and you’ll stay in the race.

Coach Steve