We've all heard the myths regarding the cause, treatment, and prevention of muscle cramps that occur during or after exercise (termed exercise-associated muscle cramps or EAMC). We're told that to relieve EAMC you should eat bananas, mustard, or pickle juice, right?
Is there any evidence for or against any of these so-called remedies? Actually, there is.
Don't tell this to a cramping 350-pound lineman! The truth is that EAMC can be very painful, affect athletic performance, and decrease overall quality of life.
In fact, in 2011, tennis player Sabine Lisicki was just a point away from upsetting the nunber three seed in the French Open , but experienced debilitating whole body EAMC. She lost the match and had to be carried off the court on a stretcher. To those of us who get EAMC, they're very serious!
This is one of my favorites. Recently, scientists gave men no, one or two servings of bananas after they biked in the heat for an hour. They measured blood potassium and observed that when one serving (about 1.5 bananas) was ingested, their potassium level did not change for 60 minutes! When two servings were ingested (about 3 bananas), it took 30 minutes to see a change in blood potassium level. (1) The takeaway message: if you've got a muscle cramp, eating bananas is too slow to relieve it. You're better off stretching the muscle (see tip #4 below).
Whether drinking pickle juice prevents cramps or not is unknown. However, drinking pickle juice actually does relieve an ongoing cramp faster than drinking water or nothing at all. (2) While we're not sure how it relieves cramping, what we do know is that it probably doesn't work because of the sodium or other electrolytes in the juice, since blood electrolytes don't change within 1 hour after you ingest it. (3) The problem is that it takes longer than stretching to work and may not work for everyone.
Like bananas, the nutrients in mustard doesn't get into your blood fast enough to change blood electrolytes and relieve an exercise-associated muscle cramp. In fact, scientists recently observed that when subjects ate 30 packets of mustard after intense exercise in the heat, their bllood sodium and potassium levels did not change within an hour of ingestion. (4) Better to just enjoy it on your hot dog than rely on it to stop your muscle cramp.
Does it surprise you that most research on cramping actually confirms it's probably not dehydration that causes EAMC? In two recent studies (5,6), subjects biked with just one leg in extreme heat until they lost 3% to 5% of their body weight (which took 2.5 to 4.5 hours!). The other leg did not exercise. Scientists measured cramp risk and found that when fatigue was minimized but subjects were dehydrated, mild to severe dehydration did not impact cramp risk.
So what do we do?
This is a great question. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of good scientific evidence right now on the best ways to prevent cramping. Here are some things you can try that, in theory, may help:
The bottom line: Exercise-associated muscle cramps are likely due to several different causes. Moreover, it's likely that those causes differ for each person. The best way to prevent them is for athletes to thoroughly examine themselves to see what clues they can learn about why they cramped. These may help you find the triggers that cause cramping for you. And if you get an EAMC, stretch it out and take a breather. Your body may just be trying to tell you to slow it down a bit.
Kevin Miller, PhD, ATC, is Associate Professor in Athletic Training at Central Michigan University.
References:
1. Miller K. Plasma potassium concentration and content changes following banana ingestion in exercised males. J Athl Tr. 2012;47:648-654.
2. Miller K, Mack G, Knight K, et al. Reflex inhibition of electrically-induced muscle cramps in hypohydrated humans. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2010;42:953-961.
3. Miller K, Mack G, Knight K. Electrolyte and plasma changes following ingestion of pickle juice, water, and a common carbohydrate-electrolyte solution. J Athl Tr. 2009;44:454-461.
4. Miller K. Electrolyte and plasma responses following pickle juice, mustard, and deionized water ingestion in dehydrated humans. J Athl Tr. 2013 (in press).
5. Miller K, Knight K, Mack G, et al. Three percent hypohydration does not affect the threshold frequency of electrically-induced muscle cramps. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2010;42:2056-2063.
6. Braulick K, Miller K, Albrecht J, Tucker J, Deal J. Significant and serious dehydration does not affect skeletal muscle cramp threshold frequency. Br J Sports Med. 2012;47:710-714.
Links:
[1] https://www.momsteam.com/node/4112
[2] https://www.momsteam.com/node/871
[3] https://www.momsteam.com/node/2928
[4] https://www.momsteam.com/node/98
[5] https://www.momsteam.com/health-safety/heat-cramps-symptoms-treatment
[6] https://www.momsteam.com/health-safety/dehydration-signs-and-symptoms
[7] https://www.momsteam.com/nutrition/heat-illness-cramps-exhaustion-stroke-signs-treatment
[8] https://www.momsteam.com/nutrition/endurance-sports-nutrition-frequently-asked-questions
[9] https://www.momsteam.com/nutrition/sports-nutrition-basics/pre-game/nutrition-during-training-for-endurance-events
[10] https://www.momsteam.com/health-safety/sodium-muscle-cramps-sweat-loss-tips-sweaty-athletes