Prevention and treatment of cramps when playing sports

Cramps appear when playing sports and last for a few seconds to a few minutes. So what causes cramps when playing sports? How to prevent cramps when kicking a soccer ball and doing other types of exercise?

Sports cramps are sudden and painful muscle contractions during exercise, lasting from a few seconds to a few minutes.
Common muscle cramps when playing sports are: shins, front and back thighs, abs, hands, feet, back, arms...

The most common cause of muscle cramps when playing sports is due to not warming up properly before exercise, making muscles prone to contraction. This is the body's natural response to less exercised movements; Strong and excessive exercise causes lactic acidosis in the muscles, causing muscle fatigue and stimulating the spinal nerves, causing continuous muscle contraction; Playing sports a lot and continuously, especially when playing in a very hot environment, sweating a lot, causes the body to lose water and electrolytes such as potassium, magnesium, calcium, salt,... cramps while playing sports. Muscles are not strong and supple enough; Age causes muscle atrophy; Over-exercise; Playing sports in a very hot environment;

Stop exercising immediately; If you are playing sports in hot weather, you need to rest in a cool area; Gently massage the painful area. Perform a stretch on the withdrawn muscle and hold the position until the contraction stops. Avoid doing movements that cause pain and muscle contractions; If you have cramps while playing sports, you can apply heat to the muscle that is contracting first, then apply a cold compress to the painful area; Drink rehydration and electrolytes for the body; If you experience muscle cramps from repeated sports, or if you have persistent cramps that don't improve with the above measures, you should call 911 or see a sports medicine specialist.

Drink enough water: As stated above, dehydration is one of the causes of cramps. Therefore, drink enough water to protect muscles when playing sports; Replenish electrolytes: Cramps can be caused by sodium and potassium deficiencies. Therefore, to prevent cramps when playing football or other sports, it is possible to replace regular drinking water with water that provides additional electrolytes. Or you can eat bananas because bananas contain a lot of potassium; Provide vitamins for the body: Studies have shown that vitamins and minerals including vitamins B, D, E, magnesium, zinc,... have the effect of reducing the risk of cramps, especially rats. withdraw when playing sports; Practice jumping movements: When the nerves and muscles begin to fatigue, it can lead to cramps. Plyometric jumps can help with this, and can be done several times a week; Warm up and cool down the muscles: Warming up the muscles before exercise and relaxing the muscles after the workout ie heating and cooling down the muscles will help to avoid cramps during sports; Increases flexibility of muscles: Before and after doing sports, performing stretching movements will increase the flexibility of muscles, helping to limit cramps. Yoga is considered a sport that helps the body to be flexible; Cramps when playing sports can occur if exercise is too heavy and not in moderation. Therefore, to avoid cramps when playing sports, it is necessary to maintain a regular and moderate exercise schedule, suitable for the body's strength. Warming up well before exercising is one of the ways to help limit cramps when playing sports.