Adam’s training journal
Not long ago, I took on a marathon-length trek in the Grand Canyon. The adventure began as a run, but as the day grew toastier and the terrain more challenging, it turned into a hike and, finally, a shuffle.
In the final stages of the journey, as I climbed some of the steepest sections of the trail, my right calf started to spasm. I’ve suffered side stitches before, but this was the first time I’ve ever experienced muscle spasms mid-exercise.
I managed to reach my destination, but in the hours that followed, I also experienced a sharp hamstring cramp and a series of cramps in the arch of my right foot. Luckily, the cramps dissipated by that evening and have not recurred since.
What do you think caused these muscle cramps? And what can I do to avoid painful episodes like this in the future?
Dr. Prescott prescribes
The chicken or the egg? How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? Add to this list of long-debated mysteries the question of what causes muscle cramps.
For years, most physiologists (and gym rats) believed that sweat-induced dehydration and the accompanying loss of sodium and potassium caused muscles to cramp. Thus, to avoid similar misadventures in the future, you likely would have been instructed to down sports drinks loaded with sodium and bananas chock-full of potassium.
But recent research has led many to re-examine the theory that dehydration and electrolyte loss are at the root of muscle cramps.
In one experiment, physiologists used electrical stimulation to induce muscle cramps in the toes of research subjects. After the subjects biked until dehydration set in, scientists again induced cramping.
If dehydration caused cramping, the scientists should have been able to induce cramps
more easily this second time. But the scientists had to use the same amount of stimulation the second time around to cause cramps. Thus, they concluded that dehydration may not cause muscle cramps after all.
A potential culprit could be muscle exhaustion. Researchers have found certain mechanisms within muscles that start misfiring when muscles are extremely tired, causing them to bunch when they should relax.
In one study, pickle juice was found to stop cramping in 85 seconds — too fast for the fluid to have entered the bloodstream. In another case study, drinking vinegar (ugh!) was found to relieve cramping even faster. These findings suggest that the vinegar, either in its pure form or diluted in pickle juice, may activate a receptor in the nervous system that corrects the misfire.
None of this is to suggest that you shouldn’t stay hydrated and load up with electrolytes on your next long trek. You should also focus on training the specific muscles that cramped. But before that next long hike, you might consider packing a few ounces of pickle juice. Watch out, Gatorade — here comes Vlasic!
[ask-drp]
