Cramps

[Singhlarry23]

K so I'm trying out for the bball team in my school.. And I when we run, I get to many cramps. What's a way to stop that?

 

[sonehdataweet]

K so I'm trying out for the bball team in my school.. And I when we run, I get to many cramps. What's a way to stop that?

Midol

 

[Navkarn]

i played 3 years of varsity basketball in high school and my biggest advice to you is to stretch stretch stretch. stretch long and hard, and don't over do it on the gatorade / water every sec you are off the court. other than that, im sure some biology majors and what not can help you out on the proper reasons to why you are experiencing this. but as for me, the more time i put into a warmup / stretch routine, the more fluid and comfortable i felt on the court, always cramp free!

 

[Amanpaul]

Maybe you're not giving your body enough time to digest your last meal before gametime.. try eating earlier, and don't drink too much water before the game. Also you should only have a few sips of water at a time while you're playing.

 

[rajkaran]

I'm not sure if I'm right, but:

- Eat properly before any super athletic so as to avoid gas/indigestion...aka no spicy or desi food too close to performing
- Lots of cramps are because of lack of hydration...so hydrate properly...energy drinks I think are useless
- Potassium (aka bananas) will also help before you perform
- Warm up before you stretch...or try dynamic stretching...basically avoid working cold muscles, you'll injure yourself
- Don't forget to breathe

anyone correct me if I'm wrong

 

[Singhlarry23]

I do all that.. I drink Gatorade while breaks.. I still get cramps. :/

 

[ghatora]

Don't eat heavy meals before and don't eat during the game, don't over hydrate.
Make sure you warm up really well and then stretch.
Hope it helps.

 

[bballkid2592]

I'm not sure if I'm right, but:

- Eat properly before any super athletic so as to avoid gas/indigestion...aka no spicy or desi food too close to performing
- Lots of cramps are because of lack of hydration...so hydrate properly...energy drinks I think are useless
- Potassium (aka bananas) will also help before you perform
- Warm up before you stretch...or try dynamic stretching...basically avoid working cold muscles, you'll injure yourself
- Don't forget to breathe

anyone correct me if I'm wrong

Yes...EAT a bananna before any practice or game...like and hour or two before...trust me it helps....i was the varsity captain of my soccer team...that shitt does the job hahahhaa And other than that..dont over do any sort of drinks (gatorade, water, alcohol for some of u wild people) before the game/practice and warm up...like a jog 2/3 minutes jog...when you start feeling ur body is warming up and then stretch your muscles...stretching right away has its downsides too...and make sure you rest well.

 

[ENVY BANG-RUH]

along with the banana have an orange or something, but everyone has pretty much summed it up. Drink more water during the day to keep you hydrated and dont over do it with the liquids during the game (as already been stated)

 

[Love]

Hydrate starting the day before your actual physical activity

 

[choochoo33]

Im just gonna biochem this up...correct me if im wrong ppl....anyway....aerobic respiration (ie need oxygen) is what we want our muscles to do get the most out of exercises...but occasionally these muscles get over worked and instead of aerobic respiration ur body resorts to ANaerobic respiration because the muscles are deprived of oxygen (cramping) and they begin to build up lactic acid...so in my case whenever i had cramps playing basketball...i always went off to the side...took DEEEP breaths and drank water and stretched at the same time...for me that worked...but definitely take the advice of others here too...we all played sports so everyone has their own ways to deal with certain things...use whatever works for u

PS if the anaerobic and aerobic respiration didnt make sense....look up the magic school bus episode where ms frizzle ran an obstacle course agains sum big ass teacher that was a freak of nature lol...her muscles started to build up lactic acid...and her class went into the magic school bus...shrunk and went inside ms frizzle and pumped oxygen into her muscles and she was able to win the race....MAGIC SCHOOL BUS FTW!!!

 

[Kanvar]

I'm no doctor, but I do have a degree in human biology haha. So you just started trying out for a team and you're cramping? It's just your body's response to the strenuous exercise its not used to. Take nuffy's advice and take time to stretch AFTER you do a light warmup otherwise you're just stretching "cold" rather than when the muscles are "warm." Keep the energy drinks around during practice to replenish those electrolytes. Make sure you eat properly (carb load) before practice to make sure your muscles have enough energy when you need to use em. Prevention is key, but other than that if you get a strong cramp or something apply deep pressure directly where the cramp is for like 10-15s with your fingers and hopefully that should ease the pain.

 

[choochoo33]

http://tvshack.cc/tv/The_Magic_School_Bus/season_3/episode_9/

heres the episode for kicks hahahah

 

[Nikhil]

Everyone stop. lol.

Cramps are due to dehydration. If you drink gatorade repeatedly you're actually increasing the amount of ion per volume of water, which doesn't help the situation. Drink water to hydrate, and LATER drink gatorade during the game/event to keep glucose levels steady for energy. Gatorade provides glucose for energy and sodium and some potassium for AP firing/muscle contraction just enough to keep you afloat during very long events.

If you over saturate your body with gatorade or any sugar drink/beverage before the actual event begins, you're going to cramp. Just drink water!

 

[Nikhil]

Im just gonna biochem this up...correct me if im wrong ppl....anyway....aerobic respiration (ie need oxygen) is what we want our muscles to do get the most out of exercises...but occasionally these muscles get over worked and instead of aerobic respiration ur body resorts to ANaerobic respiration because the muscles are deprived of oxygen (cramping) and they begin to build up lactic acid...so in my case whenever i had cramps playing basketball...i always went off to the side...took DEEEP breaths and drank water and stretched at the same time...for me that worked...but definitely take the advice of others here too...we all played sports so everyone has their own ways to deal with certain things...use whatever works for u

PS if the anaerobic and aerobic respiration didnt make sense....look up the magic school bus episode where ms frizzle ran an obstacle course agains sum big ass teacher that was a freak of nature lol...her muscles started to build up lactic acid...and her class went into the magic school bus...shrunk and went inside ms frizzle and pumped oxygen into her muscles and she was able to win the race....MAGIC SCHOOL BUS FTW!!!

We have a mix of these muscle types bro, so we don't always want/need/depend aerobic respiration. It depends on the nature of the activity. We actually phosphagen-creatine system and then the fast glycolytic pathway before anything aerobic. You are right about how the muscle typing will switch over when we have a lack of oxygen, but that's in EXTREME/DISEASED conditions

 

[Nikhil]

I'm no doctor, but I do have a degree in human biology haha. So you just started trying out for a team and you're cramping? It's just your body's response to the strenuous exercise its not used to. Take nuffy's advice and take time to stretch AFTER you do a light warmup otherwise you're just stretching "cold" rather than when the muscles are "warm." Keep the energy drinks around during practice to replenish those electrolytes. Make sure you eat properly (carb load) before practice to make sure your muscles have enough energy when you need to use em. Prevention is key, but other than that if you get a strong cramp or something apply deep pressure directly where the cramp is for like 10-15s with your fingers and hopefully that should ease the pain.

Just my advice, but never drink energy drinks because they are chock full of sugar, High fructose corn syrup and bull shit. They won't replenish your electrolytes efficiently, since it's all sugar, it's just going to give you a sugar rush that will make you crash hard. It's not improving anything (nutritionally speaking). Drink water and water mostly. Definitely DO NOT carbo load...our exercise in the form of bhangra is mostly anaerobic in 1 setting/performance. Granted we do this all the time so we are getting AEROBIC benefits, but this type of dieting is only good for long distance running, skiing, boxing...any event where we'd be moving nonstop for over a 1.5 hours. All those carbs are going to make you gain weight, which will challenge your attempts to improve stamina for your set even more.

 

[Kanvar]

I'm no doctor, but I do have a degree in human biology haha. So you just started trying out for a team and you're cramping? It's just your body's response to the strenuous exercise its not used to. Take nuffy's advice and take time to stretch AFTER you do a light warmup otherwise you're just stretching "cold" rather than when the muscles are "warm." Keep the energy drinks around during practice to replenish those electrolytes. Make sure you eat properly (carb load) before practice to make sure your muscles have enough energy when you need to use em. Prevention is key, but other than that if you get a strong cramp or something apply deep pressure directly where the cramp is for like 10-15s with your fingers and hopefully that should ease the pain.

Just my advice, but never drink energy drinks because they are chock full of sugar, High fructose corn syrup and bull shit. They won't replenish your electrolytes efficiently, since it's all sugar, it's just going to give you a sugar rush that will make you crash hard. It's not improving anything (nutritionally speaking). Drink water and water mostly. Definitely DO NOT carbo load...our exercise in the form of bhangra is mostly anaerobic in 1 setting/performance. Granted we do this all the time so we are getting AEROBIC benefits, but this type of dieting is only good for long distance running, skiing, boxing...any event where we'd be moving nonstop for over a 1.5 hours. All those carbs are going to make you gain weight, which will challenge your attempts to improve stamina for your set even more.

Aight prolly should have been more detailed in my post..but 1) wouldn't gatorade, even though it may be loaded with sugar (along with other electrolytes) be a good drink to take during the activity? and 2) "carb load" was maybe alittle to strong but depending on how much a team is practicing, a dancer has to have adequate carb intake to maintain glycogen stores during practice or performance. and yes i agree, bhangra is an anaerobic activity that uses fast-twitch muscles supplied by glycogen, not oxygen as in aerobic activity, and synthesized by carbs.

 

[angad50]

If you do get a cramp raise your arms above your head. This will increase lung capacity and allow you to take deeper breaths.

 

[Nikhil]

I'm no doctor, but I do have a degree in human biology haha. So you just started trying out for a team and you're cramping? It's just your body's response to the strenuous exercise its not used to. Take nuffy's advice and take time to stretch AFTER you do a light warmup otherwise you're just stretching "cold" rather than when the muscles are "warm." Keep the energy drinks around during practice to replenish those electrolytes. Make sure you eat properly (carb load) before practice to make sure your muscles have enough energy when you need to use em. Prevention is key, but other than that if you get a strong cramp or something apply deep pressure directly where the cramp is for like 10-15s with your fingers and hopefully that should ease the pain.

Just my advice, but never drink energy drinks because they are chock full of sugar, High fructose corn syrup and bull shit. They won't replenish your electrolytes efficiently, since it's all sugar, it's just going to give you a sugar rush that will make you crash hard. It's not improving anything (nutritionally speaking). Drink water and water mostly. Definitely DO NOT carbo load...our exercise in the form of bhangra is mostly anaerobic in 1 setting/performance. Granted we do this all the time so we are getting AEROBIC benefits, but this type of dieting is only good for long distance running, skiing, boxing...any event where we'd be moving nonstop for over a 1.5 hours. All those carbs are going to make you gain weight, which will challenge your attempts to improve stamina for your set even more.

Aight prolly should have been more detailed in my post..but 1) wouldn't gatorade, even though it may be loaded with sugar (along with other electrolytes) be a good drink to take during the activity? and 2) "carb load" was maybe alittle to strong but depending on how much a team is practicing, a dancer has to have adequate carb intake to maintain glycogen stores during practice or performance. and yes i agree, bhangra is an anaerobic activity that uses fast-twitch muscles supplied by glycogen, not oxygen as in aerobic activity, and synthesized by carbs.

That is true, Kanvar, about wanting to supply your body with enough sugar and electrolyte during an activity, and I definitely agree with you. But it depends on the nature of the activity and how long the activity is. Typically, we will really need that stuff if we're running marathons or skiing, some type of prolonged aerobic activity.

You're right about needing to have an ample glycogen store for dancers, to a degree though. I'm sure you're not imagining it in extreme amounts like I am (when I think of loading, lol), but you just don't want to run the risk of over eating and over supplying the body with carbohydrate, because chances are, the intensity of each practice session and even each individual run through won't even have a significant impact on a huge glycogen store we just made after eating a whole lot of pasta; we'd be hurting ourselves much more by eating that much. So yes! Eat carbs, but in moderation and with a good amount of protein too! And Veggies and fruits >> energy drinks for your vits and minerals!

Kanvar, are you an exercise physiology major? I got some wicked stuff related to bhangra that I did when I got my master's, lemme know if you wanna see it. I'd have to get it from home, but I'd like to show you guys! nerds ftwwwww

 

[yraparla]

nerds ftwwwww

love brown people