Muscle Cramps

"What should I do if I am experiencing muscle cramps?" 

Prevention is the key to avoiding muscle cramps. Make sure that you are fully hydrated before beginning an activity. This requires drinking enough water all the time, not just drinking some a half hour before the game.  Are you drinking enough water on a daily basis? 

Example: Male 225lbs ÷ 1.75 = 128oz (minimum H2O per day)

Example: Female 125lbs ÷ 1.75 = 71oz (minimum H2O per day)

Make sure that you have optimum levels of electrolytes in the body. Sipping a few ounces of a concentrated sports drink before the activity can be a good idea. Again, remember that you should strive to maintain sufficient levels all the time, and not just before activities.

If you feel that the cramp is severe enough to affect your performance, don't hesitate to let your coach or trainer know what is going on. Any good coach/trainer knows that athletes get muscle cramps, and has dealt with them.

Prevention &Treatment Tips

 Stretching:

Stretching a cramped muscle out can help to temporarily relieve a muscle cramps. Use a slow, sustained stretch, rather than quick and forceful ones.

 Massage/kneading:

When a muscle is cramping, circulation may be restricted to that area. Vigorously massaging & kneading the affected muscle will help to boost circulation to the area. The application of a heating balm can help to increase blood flow.

 Restoring Electrolytes & Fluids:

Restoring electrolytes can help to eliminate the cramp, if deficiency was a cause in the first place. 
Electrolytes are minerals such as sodium, magnesium, calcium and potassium that help the cells to function normally. An imbalance occurs when we have too much or too little of one or more electrolytes in our system. The main electrolytes affecting muscle cramping are potassium (meats and fish), sodium (table salt and processed foods), magnesium (bananas, avocados, nuts, whole grains) and calcium (milk, cheese, yogurt).

Sipping on a sports drink that will help to replenish these. Ideally, the sports drink you choose will contain sodium, potassium, magnesium, and calcium.
If having fluids in your stomach will upset you during the rest of the activity, choose a concentrated sports drink that has a high amount of electrolytes per unit of liquid. If this is not an issue, then consume a larger amount of liquid. The greater the amount of liquid, the faster the minerals will be absorbed. Drink as much liquid as you can without causing stomach pain.

 Warm up and Cool down:

A proper warm-up and cool down may help keep cramps at bay. So make sure to carve out time to get those muscles moving before working out and relaxed once done.