Imagine it’s the fourth quarter of a Friday night football game. Your team is down 6 points, and you’re in the next play. You are hoping to tie the game for your team. Adrenaline is at an all-time high, and you are preparing to give everything you’ve got. 

You explode off the line and fall to the ground grabbing your leg. You experience an excruciating pain surge through your calf. You cramped. Could this have been prevented?

“Yes!” says Shammara Al-Darraji, ATC, a Mass General Brigham certified athletic trainer. “I’m sure everyone has experienced a cramp before, but there are ways to help prevent them from happening.”

A cramp is a sudden, painful tightening in a muscle, often seen after prolonged exercise, that limits movement.

Al-Darraji works with athletes at Portsmouth High School through Wentworth-Douglass Hospital. She offers several tips for preventing and treating muscle cramps.

Train appropriately.

The first step is to sufficiently warm up your muscles beforehand. This is important to get your body into its “exercise mode.” 

Additionally, try to progress your workout intensity gradually, allowing your body to adjust to the change, avoid muscle cramps, and prevent workout pain.

Acclimate yourself to your environment.

Allowing your body to adjust to changing temperatures is essential to prevent cramping. Acclimating to your environment before heavy exercise allows your metabolism to adapt to its external inputs. For example, warmer temperatures would cause your core body temperature to rise quickly, throwing off your body’s metabolic balance. Likewise, planning ahead for winter workouts to exercise safely can help prevent injury.

Drink the right amount of fluids.

Muscle cramping is correlated directly with dehydration due to excessive sweating. When you sweat, your body loses water and essential minerals such as potassium and sodium. Our hydration tips for athletes can help you prevent dehydration. Consider using a replacement beverage that includes sodium.

High-sodium sports drinks are specifically formulated with various salts to help prevent cramping. It is important to note that when high levels of plain water are consumed alone, blood sodium levels can dip too low, and a dangerous situation known as hyponatremia can occur. 

This can cause:

• Nausea and vomiting
• Mental confusion
• Headaches
• Fatigue
• At its worst: seizures and coma.