Hi Folks,
I performed RDLs yesterday morning per Day 2 Week 2 of the Hyp/GPP template. I spent most of the rest of the day on my feet, with a little light cycling to a playground with my family in the evening.
Later during an unscheduled bout of GPP (adult variety), as I was, um, adjusting my position, on my knees as it were, I experienced a SEVERE double hamstring cramp, like pain number 9. It was super fast onset, but subsided when I stood up and stretched out against the wall for a minute or so (GPP resumed in case you were worried).
This got me thinking- what are the causes of muscle cramps, and how might they be prevented?
I did a little pubmed searching, assuming that the wider internet would be infested with BS. While I couldn’t see much that is fulltext, I get the sense that dehydration and electrolyte depletion/imbalance are not explanatory, and that not much can be done to prevent cramps aside from managing fatigue (i.e., don’t make the muscle so tired, bro). Then, the treatment suggested in several sources was “stretching,” which I instinctively did in the moment, but I also know isn’t recommended here at BBM.
Since I hardly think I am the first to experience this, I wonder how you BBM folks have come to manage/prevent the occasional muscle cramp. I’m not going to be able to reduce fatigue (that’s the whole point, right?), so what to do?
1 Like
Lol …
Yes, it’s thought they are mostly related to fatigue, though they can happen for other reasons too (e.g., neurological). ( Cramps, Spasms, Twitches & Tremors )
Stretching a cramped muscle is perfectly reasonable. That’s not the context we’re typically recommending against stretching in.
How long have you been doing RDLs? Are they are relatively novel movement to you?
Thanks for the reply and for the link. Man, that painscience website is pretty great.
Yes, they’re definitely novel, I had done them for a short while during a brief run of HLM last fall, with the last time I saw them in late November. I had tried to go easy on week one of Hyp/GPP since I recall them really wiping me out last fall, but it was week two so I went for it.
As a follow-up, the hammies felt near-crampy- just a little on edge- all day Thursday, but when I warmed up for DLs on Friday, they felt great. In fact, I pulled 3 sets of 6 @8 at a weight that I only pulled 1 set of 3@9 just two weeks ago. [Though to be fair, I did get a long over-due form check in the interim].
Thanks again for all you folks do!
My experience with cramps is quite bizarre, also. Luckily never experienced them in the context of the OP, but I have hamstring cramps every once in a while during the Bench Press. I also experienced foot cramps a lot when doing gymnastics ring work, and in the calves when I swam. None of the “eat bananas, they have potassium” folk knowledge helped significantly.
But nothing is worse than waking up with the feeling of 10 knives being inserted in your calves… Really glad these have become infrequent.