Question for workout types - muscle cramps
It appears to me that players are going down with cramps more than prior years and more than the opposing teams.
Is this just a bad observation on my part?
If not, what would be causing the increase?
Is anyone tracking these types of injuries from previous years to present?
Thanks.
September 15th, 2018 at 7:29 PM ^
I cramp during sex. Wrong guy to ask.
September 15th, 2018 at 8:10 PM ^
This guy gets it.
September 15th, 2018 at 9:42 PM ^
Thought it was just me!
September 15th, 2018 at 10:41 PM ^
Time to switch to the other hand
September 16th, 2018 at 7:50 AM ^
This guy fucks. Literally.
September 15th, 2018 at 7:30 PM ^
Heat and lack of hydration. My senior year we played a game where it was 113 on the turf at night. It doesn’t matter how much fluid you have, you’ll cramp. Believe it or not it’s worse in colder games. It’s more physiological, if it’s cold out you don’t feel the need to drink as much during exercise.
September 15th, 2018 at 9:22 PM ^
It's *rarely* worse in colder games. Cramps can happen in warm or cold weather, but you're not going to see as many goes guy down with cramps in November as you saw today. You don't feel the need to drink as much in the cold because you literally don't need to drink as much in the cold.
September 15th, 2018 at 10:46 PM ^
Right. Thirst has been shown to be an accurate predictor of hydration level, believe it or not.
September 15th, 2018 at 7:32 PM ^
Herbert is a joke.
September 16th, 2018 at 10:05 AM ^
How many boards are you awful on?
September 15th, 2018 at 7:32 PM ^
Noticed the same thing and was wondering the same thing
It seemed to me suiting during offseason interviews that the focus was on strength with this new coach whereas the old coach had a bigger emphasis on cardio
September 16th, 2018 at 9:39 AM ^
“Strength vs cardio???”
what a joke. S&C is understood even less by fan bases then the actual position coaches and coordinators!
September 15th, 2018 at 7:34 PM ^
Hate to say it but Evans looked like a hammy, not a cramp. I'd be shocked if he's back before October
September 15th, 2018 at 7:36 PM ^
Hoping Evans was just a cramp and not a muscle tear. I didn't like how he stopped running on that break away run and grabbed his hammie. I didn't see if he went to the locker but he didn't come back in.
September 15th, 2018 at 7:36 PM ^
Double post. Go Blue!!
September 15th, 2018 at 7:37 PM ^
So it's a combination of things. Hydration and electrolytes are certainly involved, but also heat acclimatization, length of duration of activity, muscle load under stretch/high range of motion, etc. They certainly aren't injuries as they're a transient state unless extremely severe. The game was very long, it was hot, and there was lots of running.
Evans for example seemed to pull his hamstring at the end of a dead Sprint while cutting and fatigued - that's the classic scenario. Sometimes the body can only take so much. SMU had a fair number of guys in a similar situation. ND did as well.
September 16th, 2018 at 7:46 AM ^
Good post.
I've always heard that if you wait till you're cramping to hydrate, its too late.
September 16th, 2018 at 8:05 AM ^
Do perfomance enhancing substances also increase the incidences of cramping?
September 16th, 2018 at 8:13 AM ^
¡el double postamentè!
September 15th, 2018 at 7:37 PM ^
i feel like both nd and um players were cramping a lot, so i wasn’t worried at that point. but in this game i didn’t see anyone from smu cramp. then again, being down in dallas they’ve got to be a lot more used to the heat
September 15th, 2018 at 8:18 PM ^
Good point on SMU. I blamed the weather for ND as well.
September 15th, 2018 at 7:39 PM ^
Did some digging and came up with something.. Arkansas was the most cramped team last year...
Joking aside, to my knowledge it’s 100% a hydration and conditioning problem and it takes no prisoners. Our conditioning does seem a little suspect to me
September 16th, 2018 at 11:25 AM ^
I'd wager the "conditioning" part of that equation is more about climatizing than conditioning, or more precisely, conditioning while climatizing. It's probably quite difficult to emulate upper 80s and 90s temps with high humidity if your local climate is a bit more benign. Here in the DFW area we've been experiencing just those conditions for the last six weeks or so. In July it was 105+ with a bit lower humidity...it's own type of hell.
September 15th, 2018 at 7:46 PM ^
Exercise induced muscle cramps in week 3 is a complete failure by the over-hyped strength and nutrition staff! Research shows that it is not directly correlated or caused by dehydration. People who are hydrated get cramps and there are plenty of people who are dehydrated who do not. Some people are just cramp prone (remember Lebron?) It's not linear in that regard but the fatigue aspect of this is completely controllable. The combination of fatigue and an imbalance between hydration and electrolytes is a troublesome combo.
September 15th, 2018 at 7:48 PM ^
Too much focus on the "strength" part of S&C. I'm not impressed with Herbert. We will need much better conditioning to be able to stay competitive in the big ten.
September 15th, 2018 at 10:15 PM ^
137 penalty yards is far more concerning. Many coming from what is supposed to be a pretty good secondary
September 16th, 2018 at 9:29 AM ^
Looked to me like the refs put money on SMU under 35 and when we started to pull away the flags came out
September 15th, 2018 at 7:54 PM ^
Coaches always said: drink a lot of water, eat a lot of salt.
September 15th, 2018 at 7:55 PM ^
When our HS football team kids cramp up, our trainer gives them Mustard. Works most of the time, combined with fluids, of course.
September 15th, 2018 at 8:04 PM ^
today would have been a good day for pickle juice.
September 15th, 2018 at 9:45 PM ^
Every day is a good day for picklebacks, wait.... what?
September 15th, 2018 at 8:13 PM ^
Using mustard and pickle juice are backed up in the literature for "exercise associated muscle cramps" but it's not due to the electrolytes present or fluid volume (of the juice not mustard) because we get results far quicker than digestion allows. It is thought to be an inhibitory reflex in the mouth that produces the result.
September 15th, 2018 at 7:56 PM ^
Defense was on the field for much of the second half during a hot and humid game.
Without much substituting, I can understand why a player would cramp in those conditions/circumstances.
I don't think this has anything to do with Herbert.
September 15th, 2018 at 8:22 PM ^
I'm not suggesting the new SC coach is at fault. Just wondering if a tweak to dietary plans or something similar could reduce it.
September 15th, 2018 at 10:54 PM ^
So then why didn't SMU's offense cramp an equal amount in the 2nd half? Same environment, same amount of time on the field.
September 16th, 2018 at 6:48 AM ^
I don't know man. I watch a lot of football and there are many games being played in hotter and more humid places than South Bend and Ann Arbor. Our level of cramping in these first 3 games has been more than any other Michigan team I can ever remember and more than other teams playing in hotter conditions. That was just a general observation I made yesterday during the game.
September 16th, 2018 at 2:49 PM ^
"Guys to me look leaner and thicker"... alright then.
September 15th, 2018 at 7:59 PM ^
To be fair, the program should put out before and after pics showing guys last year standing upright during a game in September and paralyzed on the ground with a cramp this September .
September 15th, 2018 at 8:03 PM ^
Maybe they should bring back the shake weight workouts
September 15th, 2018 at 8:12 PM ^
Global warming
September 15th, 2018 at 8:16 PM ^
If anyone is truly interested in this topic go to scholar.google.com or any other academic search engine and use "exercise associated muscle cramps" in the search and read a few abstracts. LOTS of misinformation out there on this specifically
September 15th, 2018 at 9:48 PM ^
You seem knowledgeable, so can I ask you for some quality reading suggestions. I deal with cardiovascular medications, and I know that a generic google scholar search for “ideal LDL” will give a wide variety of results with an even wider variety of quality... so if you could narrow it down for me, id Appreciate it
September 15th, 2018 at 10:40 PM ^
On mobile, tough to copy paste but there are several high quality studies on the first page of scholar.google if you search "exercise associated muscle cramps" review. Hopefully the links work
September 15th, 2018 at 8:17 PM ^
Couple weeks ago I cramped up pretty badly at the gym and i had been drinking a gallon and a half of water a day
September 15th, 2018 at 8:29 PM ^
You can overhydrate and dilute electrolytes. Ca, Mg, K and Na ions are the electrolytes used by the muscles. If you overhydrate you can dilute these and cause cramps.
Im 53 years old and own a construction company. I have a severe problem with cramps in the heat of the summer. Mine are mostly in my torso. Legs not so much but occasional. During the hottest months if I power down a Powerade or water the cramps are sure to follow within minutes.
To combat this I drink up to 5 V8s per day for the sodium and potassium (as much potassium in one can of V8 as in a banana) along with a gallon and a half of water and/or Powerade or Gatorade. (sidenote: These sports drinks have shit for electrolytes in them. They dont even show up on the USRDA notations. Body Armor is a significant source of potassium but the cost is prohibitive if you are drinking a gallon and a half 6 days a week for months at a time.) I also take Ca/Mg/Zn supplements, up to 5 or 6 per day at 50% USRDA.
Because I take such high doses of Mg my doctor monitors the levels in my blood with a simple blood test once per month. Mg can be toxic at high doses. Ive never had an abnormal Mg level. A side effect of the Ca is I have to cut my finger and toe nails about once every 7 to 10 days. They grow really fast.
Ive honed my technique and timing according to my bodies needs and have not had a cramp yet this summer. And we all know how hot and humid this summer was.
When doctors couldnt help me with my cramps I turned to the internet and my research led me to a book by an Austrailian marathoner/personal trainer on running cramps. I never had a cramp before I turned 45 or 47 so age was a factor in my case. But my regimen was created entirely by trial and error.
How this translates to 20 year old athletes I have no clue.
Max daily water intake should not exceed 32 oz per hour or 2 gallons per day.
September 15th, 2018 at 8:43 PM ^
Over-hydration can actually be fatal, too. It's called hyponatremia and killed a bunch of kids doing an internet challenge trying to down a gallon of water without puking.
September 15th, 2018 at 8:33 PM ^
I'm not a doctor but to me it doesn't appear they are drinking enough water.
September 15th, 2018 at 8:36 PM ^
Have suffered numerous leg cramps back when I raced mountain bikes. Cold vs hot weather, in decent shape vs too many donuts that year, it didn't seem to matter. The best thing that worked for me was to "spin" more while riding (higher cadence / less mashing on the pedals) to work the lactic acid out and using a product called elyte which tasted like pure salt water. Maybe need some bikes on the sidelines lol.