How to Avoid Muscle Cramps and Side Stretches During Exercise

18 61
Avatar for LykeLyca
2 years ago

Muscle cramping and side stretches are very common effects of exercise that we all hate to happen.

This afternoon in a hydrotherapy session with my colleague on his osteoarthritic patient, the latter complained of intense muscle cramping while doing gait training in the pool. The therapist desperately rushed to save his patient held immobilized in the water. This was the patient's third time to do hydrotherapy and the therapist as well assumed that the patient did warm up exercises before the treatment session. Anyway, we all know muscle cramping and side stretches are bound to happen during exercise, it is always necessary to take heed of what should be done in case it inevitably happens and what to do to avoid it.

Unsplash by Jan Romero

Muscle Cramping can be due to poor conditioning and muscle fatigue, often people from colder climates develop this when they proceed exercising without warm up because the muscles are still stiff due to the cold weather. The most common muscle to experience cramping is the muscle at the fleshy back part of the leg or the gastrocnemius muscle. It is important to know what should be done when muscle cramping attacks. If this happens, immediately stop exercising and stretch the affected muscle until it relaxes before resuming your workout.

Side Stretch (Exercise Related Transient Abdominal Pain) is the sharp pain below the rib cage, this usually happens while running, jogging and brisk walking. This is a type of cramp that is cause by frequent jarring while breathing in and out during running, thus stretching the Coronary Ligament that connects the diaphragm to the liver.

When side stretch happens don't stop abruptly, just gradually slow down your pace from running to walking while putting a slight pressure on the painful area. Perform stretching on the affected side by raising the arm on the same side and stretch away from the painful part. You can avoid this from happening by doing core exercise beforehand as warm up. Core includes the chest muscles, back and the abdominals.

Unsplash by Jonathan Borba

Now, if you really decide to do regular workouts, remember these warm up and cool down tips to avoid cramps:

1. It is best to do 5-10 minutes stretching for warm up.

2. Avoid ballistic stretching. Ballistic movements can cause pulled and tear muscle. This can also traumatize joints which will eventually lead to degenerative changes or arthritis.

3. Streching can be done by holding the position fot 7-10 seconds. If you have tight muscles, it is better to hold it longer up to 20-30 seconds. Then repeat each movement for 5-10 repetitions. This will really help to improve flexibility and circulation to avoid injury.

4. The more strenous your workout, the more warm up you will need. Older athletes will require gentler but longer (more repetitions) warm up.

5. People doing weight training should start with minimal resistance so your muscles and ligaments can adjust with the load. Never overload your muscles abruptly or else you will suffer with musculoskeletal injuries sooner.

6. Cool down is also very important, 10 minutes of slow walking, stretching will do.

Unsplash by Chander R

Exercise should be a part of our weekly activities, 30 minutes a day 5x a week is already a great start, and/ or enough regimen for health and fitness. But we should also take note on how to take care of our body as we carry out this activity. Our muscles and other supporting structures like ligaments and joints also require gentle care while we workout, give your muscles a time to adjust and recuperate to avoid injuring it.

Moreover, we should also observe our diet and food choices, like eating fruits and vegetables and drinking at least eight glasses of water a day. Our sleep is also very important. These are great things to consider in order to condition our body in the activities we wish to perform, and ultimately a healthy shape.

Thanks for reading and I hope you learned something from here.


Related articles:

Can You Stay Slim After Dieting?

How to Control Hypertension?

What are The Benefits of Sports


Photos from Unsplash with attribution (free images)

Photo below is mine


15
$ 43.49
$ 42.82 from @TheRandomRewarder
$ 0.15 from @bbyblacksheep
$ 0.10 from @sgbonus
+ 9
Avatar for LykeLyca
2 years ago

Comments

Woohoo! Sakto if magstart na ako magbalik loob sa exercise. Hehe. Pero I do warm ups and cool downs. Favorite ko kapag cool down na kasi patapos na work out. Hehe. Na minsan ang cool down ko nasshorten kasi napapacellphone na ako. 😅

$ 0.00
2 years ago

Thank you for writing this article. Super helpful for me cause I just started working out again recently after a year because I got so busy with acads. Btw, I'm new in this community po and hoping to meet new friends :)

$ 0.02
2 years ago

Hi! Thanks for dropping and welcome!

$ 0.00
2 years ago

All points are valid you mentioned above but they are very hard because i think mostly people done it in a wrong way so it’s better to walk daily i will keep you healthy and fit But that’s totally my opinion Have a good day 😊

$ 0.02
2 years ago

Just so easy yet important, if you're used to doing early morning walks just incorporate a bit of stretches beforehand..

$ 0.00
2 years ago

Haha thanks for these. I have been struggling working out lately, i hope these tips would help me. Good read, keep it up! ❤️😊

$ 0.02
2 years ago

It is important to workout, i hope you can find some time. Thanks!

$ 0.00
2 years ago

Ito and diko nagagawa, doctora :(

$ 0.02
2 years ago

When in college, nagtake aq ng advance ROTC which required an MWF reveille. Exercises done were stretching and strenuous work out, sa una sabi q sa sarili ayoko na. My whole body was sore the whole week, paika-ikang maglakad na pra bng natorture ang buong katawan. Nagkacramps na mga masel2 pro push p din😅. It took 2 weeks bgo masanay ang katawan

$ 0.02
2 years ago

Ay grabe ang training sa ROTC, totoo strenous talaga. Hindi ako mka survive sa training nila grabe pa hirapan. Glad u get used to it, sa 2 weeks with habitual training masasanay na talaga

$ 0.00
2 years ago

I am doing exercises before but I stopped because nothing happened to my physical appearance😆

$ 0.02
2 years ago

Hahah! Hindi nmn instant yan, syempre it should be a regular and habitual process to see results.

$ 0.00
2 years ago

Hahaha ilang months din akong nagganun diet + exercise 😆

$ 0.00
2 years ago

Bka nmn kagaya sa sa kapatid ko, so minimal result on diet and exercise kc pala may PCOS sya..

$ 0.00
2 years ago

This is why I don't really like doing exercise. I know I'm doing it wrong 😅 I experienced cramps and my muscles were sore after.

$ 0.02
2 years ago

Hahah! Exercise regularly para masanay na katawan mo, eventually mawawala na ms. Soreness na yan..

$ 0.00
2 years ago

I think diet is best treatment for Muscle Cramping after exercise. I have good diet and after regular exercise even after Gym I have never the issue of Cramping or Fatigued. Your tips to get rid and as a precautionary measure are good and easy to adopt. Applause for you dear

$ 0.02
2 years ago

Oh yes i forgot to mention power drinks like gatorade and etc can help too.. But not all the time, i still think warm ups are best way to avoid it. Thanks!

$ 0.00
2 years ago