Muscle Cramps during Competition
If you've ever developed severe muscle cramps during
long-term exercise, the odds are that you never found out why it
happened. Doctors in South Africa studied triathletes and found
that most of the time, the muscles cramps were not caused by
dehydration, thyroid disease, blocked blood flow, nerve damage,
or mineral abnormalities of calcium, sodium, magnesium or
potassium (Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, July 2005).
The athletes with cramps had normal electrolytes and did
not lose more fluid during exercise than those who did not suffer
cramps. The researchers showed that the most likely cause is
muscle fatigue or tearing of the muscle itself. Electromyograph
(EMG) studies at one to five minutes showed markedly elevated
electrical activity of the nerves controlling the cramped muscles.
Therefore muscle cramps during long distance athletic events
appeared to be caused by exercise-induced damage to the
muscles themselves. If this is true, muscle cramps during
endurance events can be prevented by slowing down when you
feel excessive soreness in one muscle group or straining in a
muscle. Of course, competitive athletes will not do this, and they
pay for it with muscle cramps.
April 2, 2006
Checked 9/28/08