How to Avoid & Treat a Muscle Cramp

Once again I was inspired to write this article by my own experiences out on my bike.

It would seem even after writing about the perils of asking my body to do too much too early in the season, I fell victim to being just a little over confident.

I decided to ride up to Schomberg one Sunday as the weather was ideal for being on the bike. Schomberg is not an overly taxing ride (100k with a rolling ascent) and I’ve done the ride a few times already this season. Feeling a little over confident, I opted to explore a new way home going a little bit east and then riding south down a route likely to have less traffic.

The route I chose did in fact have less traffic and was also much more beautiful scenery to cycle through. Unexpectedly it also had much more significant climbs and more of them then my normal route home.

It also turns out to be part of a course some very serious cyclists use to train on…. I’m sure you can guess where this might be leading…. I could not accept the idea of being left behind so I worked a little (read a lot) harder then I should have to stop from being dropped. As they turned to continue on their course I continued on home to Toronto.

All seemed fine until I was approaching the last hill before I reached home, when my left hamstring and right quad started to cramp up. I realized too late I had not been drinking enough water as well as over working my legs a bit.

At this moment I was very thankful to be a massage therapist as I learned how to stop the cramps and slowly lengthen the muscles out again. Working through the cramps allowed me continue home (all be it slowly) on my bike.

With this in mind I thought it would be good for you to hear how you can help avoid and relieve muscle spasms.

Helping to avoid muscle cramps

By far the worst culprit for causing muscles cramps is a combination of dehydration and the loss of electrolytes. This is also one of the easiest causes to avoid by ensuring you continually sip water during exercise  (once you feel thirsty it’s usually too late). To help with your body’s ability to maintain a healthy electrolyte level it’s a good idea to put a lemon wedge in your water bottle as well as a little maple syrup.

Another common cause of muscle cramps is over exertion. This is particularly common at this time of year when we are starting to get more serious about activities we may have stepped away from in the winter months. So again, with this is mind begin slowly and build up your endurance over time to avoid overly stressing muscles.

What to do if a dreaded cramp pops up

There are a few things you can do to help reduce a muscle cramp if you’ve already gone too far.

1. Reciprocal Muscle Inhibition (RMI): RMI is a fancy way saying when we contract a muscle on one side of a joint the brain sends a signal to cause the muscle on the opposite side of the joint to relax (i.e. if we fire the quad the brain sends a signal to the hamstring telling it to relax, this phenomena is what allows us to walk). We can make use of RMI when we develop a cramp to help reduce it. I used this on my ride by hooking the top of the left foot around the back of my right ankle and gently contracting my left quad (pushing my left shin into the back of me right calf), as the cramp in the left hamstring released I straightened my right leg a bit and repeated the process with a slightly straighter left leg until I was able to stand with both legs straight again.
2. Golgi Tendon Organ Release is another great way to help reduce a cramp. You may remember me mentioning it in my last article and can click here to learn more about it.

I hope you never experience a muscle cramp during your favourite activities but if you do, I’m sure this advice will help you reduce it.