[RenegadeRows]

Saturday night I was moving a friend and experienced a few muscle cramps.

I went searching for information and found an answer: hydration & electrolytes (potassium, sodium & chloride)

It seems that lack of hydration, coupled with lack of electrolytes will contribute to muscle cramps. There were a few university studies on this with athletes, and muscle cramps were less prevelant with the athletes that supplemented with electrolytes.

Next time you wake up in the middle of the night with a bad cramp, keep a bottle of Gatorade nearby.

[bolt10]

Or you could keep a bottle with some poseidon in it nearby!

[DreamWeaver]

Electrolytes help keep the water in the muscle, during the the hotter months you may litterly sweat out your electrolytes and you may notice that water will just go right through you leaving you in a cold sweat and completely drained. This is where cramping is most likely to occur. I have heard of large ball players being fed 3 bags of saline solution interveneously. A friend took in 4 and a half bags during an ironman triathalon or so he said.

[thebigt]

Originally Posted by bolt10

Or you could keep a bottle with some poseidon in it nearby!

x2. poseidon is the best hydration formula i have found.

[RenegadeRows]

I use GlycerGROW for hydration. In addition to the electrolytes you have the glycerol that hydrates and keeps your muscles volumized with H20. The stuff is dirt cheap, one bottle lasts me almost 6 months

[thebigt]

Originally Posted by RenegadeRows

I use GlycerGROW for hydration. In addition to the electrolytes you have the glycerol that hydrates and keeps your muscles volumized with H20. The stuff is dirt cheap, one bottle lasts me almost 6 months

i haven't heard much about glycergrow lately, i know it used to be popular to take with creatine mono to increase absorption.

[pmiller383]

I always mean to order glyergrow and always forget about it. Powerade just came out with a calorie free drink with electrolytes which I have been living off of for a couple weeks now, I would love to mix some GMS with that.

[RenegadeRows]

Originally Posted by thebigt

i haven't heard much about glycergrow lately, i know it used to be popular to take with creatine mono to increase absorption.

Undderated and powerful product, especially when you combine it with creatine.

[Force of Green]

Good thread RenegadeRows. I believe that the best combo for electrolytes/hydration (anti-cramping) is Poseidon (1 scoop 3x per day) and taurine (4 grams 3x per day).

[Zero V]

Wow I have just been drinking around 130 ounces of water a day and thinking I am saying hydrated... Maybe I should invest in some of this lol.

[Trauma1]

Originally Posted by RenegadeRows

Saturday night I was moving a friend and experienced a few muscle cramps.

I went searching for information and found an answer: hydration & electrolytes (potassium, sodium & chloride)

It seems that lack of hydration, coupled with lack of electrolytes will contribute to muscle cramps. There were a few university studies on this with athletes, and muscle cramps were less prevelant with the athletes that supplemented with electrolytes.

Next time you wake up in the middle of the night with a bad cramp, keep a bottle of Gatorade nearby.

Check out the havoc write-up. I have a section in there on the mechanism of hydration and muscle cramps/pumps.

Edit: Here it is

-Fluid/electrolyte intake: It is also very important that you keep your fluid and electrolyte(sodium,potassium,calcium,magnesium) intake very sufficient throughout the day. Fluid/electrolyte loss through training depletes interstitial fluids(basically the fluid that lies outside of the cells)which also attributes to muscle pump/cramping issues, and here's how:

Painful muscle pumps/cramps occur due to loss of the osmotically active particles(mainly NaCL or salt) outside the cell within the interstitial spaces. This causes a disturbance in the osmotic balance(pull) of fluid moving in and out of muscle cells. This then results in muscle cells excessively swelling(because they contain more osmotically active particles and fluid)and you develop very painful pumps. This process can also lead to problems with the calcium pump inside muscle cells. This will cause VERY painful cramps due to the muscle being locked in a contractive state. This is why adequate fluid and electrolye intake during training is very important to maintain this balance and prevent these issues.

[Trauma1]

Originally Posted by bolt10

Or you could keep a bottle with some poseidon in it nearby!

Right on my friend!

[RenegadeRows]

Good writeup big T!!!!!!