Stop Unwanted Muscle Cramping

Muscle Cramping – How to Avoid the Pain

Just saying the words muscle cramping can bring a wince to just about anybody’s face, for most people have experienced muscle cramps at some point or another in their lives. Muscle cramps can be mild or completely debilitating, depending on the reason for their occurrence in the first place and the extent of injury that can happen as a result.

Muscle cramping happens when one or more of the body’s muscles clamp down and tighten up. This cramping causes sudden onset severe pain in the affected muscles and renders the person nearly temporarily disabled until the cramp passes. This type of problem can be caused by several factors, some of which can be easily prevented and others which might need a doctor’s care to address. The most common cause of muscle cramping is typically overexertion or dehydration in the case of a person making several mistakes when exercising. Strenuous exercise requires a careful program of paying attention to the body in order to keep it pliable and functioning well along the way.

The ways to avoid exercise related muscle cramping are simple yet very critical to keeping the body healthy and safe from injury. All athletes know these things but they do bear reminding on a regular basis, for it seems the harder some athletes work the more they push the limits of the body. Proper stretching and warming up is a key that can never be slacked upon for any person exercising, whether an experience athlete or a novice walker out to get in better shape. Stretching does not have to be complicated, neither does warming up. Just basic stretches and light warm-ups will have the muscles in shape and ready to go without the risk of cramps or injury.

Dehydration can play a role in muscle cramping that happens during exercise or sports participation. This is why you will see electrolyte laden sports drinks as well as water on the sidelines of most competitive sport venues as well as in the gym workout centers. When the muscles become dehydrated, they are prone to cramping up and causing severe pain that can lead to injury. It is not clear how dehydration and muscle cramping are connected exactly, but it has been proven to be the case time and time again. Proper hydration is as important as good stretching and appropriate warming up when it comes to exercise of any kind.