Exercise Induced Calf Cramps

I would suggest increasing potassium, your sodium/potassium balance matters more than your actual sodium intake. I find more protein tends to help as well.

If all else fails try visiting or talking to massage therapist, physiotherapist, dietitian, kinesiologist, have blood work done, etc

It sounds like you've done some great googling, but have you spoken to someone like a physio or athletic therapist? It sounds like you're doing a lot of the recommendations they would have (proper stretching and foam rolling for sure) but they may have a series of exercises which could help strengthen specific muscles/ligaments so that less stress is being placed on the ones that are spasming?

Kind of a different scenario, I didn't start having problems with leg cramping until after I had surgery to fix some tearing to the meniscus and ligaments in my knee but like you I tried everything, including obscene amounts of bananas haha. After dealing with it on my own for about 4 months, I finally limped back to my old PT who after assessing me figured out that I was lacking muscle mass in certain sections of my leg, which was over stressing some of the muscles through my calf. He put together an exercise plan for me (which yes, included lots of stretching) and ended up having me tape my knee to do certain activities to help with the strain on it while I built back muscle.

It doesn't sound like you've had a specific injury, but a friend of mine who had never injured her leg started having the same problem with intense cramping through her calves and when she eventually got referred out to a PT they told her that she had over-trained certain muscles accidentally while not training others which created weakness and eventually a lot of strain on the muscles she was training.

Worth looking into if nothing else; I really hope you can get some answers!

I got them a lot back in High School and have started getting them again now that I'm dropping closer to my goal weight. I agree with @erickirb that your sodium/potassium balance really matters. And it's not just on the days that you're doing the strenuous activities. The ratio should be almost 3:2 potassium to sodium. Most veggies are high in potassium as well as you bananas and pineapple and other fruits.

I used to get them bad when I started running. I started foam rolling them twice a day and stretching them before and after I ran. They eventually went away.

I have had those. The pain is crazy. You can't walk it out...I heard it was lack of potassium...have added eating bananas every other day.

Did you try the stretching protocol i posted?

This happened to me a few years ago, started using foam roller and also Google trigger point therapy / tptherapy / YouTube and see the calf treatment that work the Knotts out using two balls, works really well

I haven't had this particular issue but a friend of mine has, he started eating bing cherries in the evenings about an hour before going to bed. There's something in the cherries that help to relax the muscles, I'm sure a google search on them will lead you somewhere helpful on the why's.

I've gotten some pretty awful ones during races (think hot weather, lots of sweating, etc). I've had best results keeping my fluid levels moderate and my sodium intake high during training/racing.

Everyone is different, so take this with a grain of salt (pun intended), but you drink roughly 2x what I do and take in roughly have the sodium.

My completely subjective opinion is that you need sodium levels in muscle tissue, and too much fluids can actually be problematic. I reduced my fluids and increased my sodium going into last season and had no problem with cramping and PRed every race.

FWIW, I only care about it the day before and the day of a race. Day to day I pay no attention to sodium or water intake, though my normal tendency is for very low water consumption and very high sodium intake.

I've moved to drink mix and gels with the highest sodium and caffeine quantities I can find. That ends up being powerbar gels and scratch labs drink mix.

For me stretching and potassium worked. I stretch 45 min, 3 mornings a week.

I had some issues that I figured out were due to a new pair of shoes (the cute ones in my profile pic ). Research has failed to find a connection between hydration/electrolytes and exercise-induced muscle cramps.

esjones12 wrote: »

hermann341 wrote: »

I had calf cramps due to compartment syndrome in my calves. I had been working out too hard when I started running, and my calf muscles bulked up too quickly (like over a 4 month period). Stretching helped, but I had to rest my calves for several weeks the last time I had cramps, and then had to proceed very slowly with increasing my speed and endurance once the soreness went away enough. I had to go to a sports medicine doctor for the diagnosis, at which time he pointed out I was also getting stress fractures in my shins from the muscles pulling the bone apart.

That is one of the possibilities my Sports Med doctor mentioned. Were you actually tested for it? Mine said it involved getting a needle stuck in your calf to measure the pressure, then running on a treadmill and then sticking your calf again. It sounded awful. He said it was something we would look into if decreasing the impact I was putting on my legs did not help. He was pretty sure it was overtraining syndrome (OTS) vs compartment syndrome. I'm crossing my fingers he is right.

jacksonpt - Ah! That explains it lol. Salt tabs do seem to help me during races. I just don't always have them available. I'm thinking of wearing a small fuel belt for shorter races I don't have my camelback on for.

I did not get the needle test. The doctor (an orthopedist recommended by another doctor) took some x-rays and by process of elimination based on history and symptoms and what I had been doing to that point to correct it, determined it was the overtraining version of compartment syndrome. I had been pretty sedentary and weighed 260 lbs when I started running, and just plain overdid it. It took about a year after the diagnosis for the soreness to subside to a point I felt like I could train at a higher level. Three years after the diagnosis, I'm feeling fine.