Muscle cramps are painful, sustained contractions of all of the muscle fibers in a muscle. They can last for just a few seconds or continue for several hours.
Although cramps can occur during sleep, they usually occur during intense exercise. No athlete or fitness buff in any sport is immune to this common condition.
Thera are many causes:
Salt deficiency
Low levels of other minerals such as potasium or magnesium
An injury or strain on the muscle
An obstruction of the muscle’s blood supply by sustained muscular contraction
Hyperventilating – breathing too fast when it is not necessary, which prevents the body from using calcium
Most common cause of cramps in athletes is a low body level of one or more minerals, particularly potassium and salt. Potasium is the mineral that is lost in large ammounts during hard exercise.
I suggest that you eat more fruits and vegetables to replace potassium. I do not recommend that you increase your dietary intake of salt. When an athlete consumes large amount of salt, his body loses its ability to conserve salt. Consequently, if he suddenly decreases his intake, his level will become unusually low and this will cause cramps.
If you still continue to have cramps in spite of an increased intake of mineral-rich foods, see your physician. Since potassium and magnesium are found primarily inside the cells, blood tests are not always an accurate measure of the body’s level of the two minerals. The best way to measure this minerals is to cut out a piece of muscle and measure the amount of minerals inside it. However, because the treatment of mineral deficiency is so simple – eating fruits, vegetables, and grains – a muscle biopsy is never necessary.