I have been getting alot of tightness and cramp in my calf muscles recently, what can I do to stop this?

Question

I have recently started walking 10,000 steps a day and using a mini trampoline. I do stretch the muscles before hand but I still have alot of pain-what can I do?

Answer 1

Stretching before an exercise is a good idea, but it kind of misses the point.

Everything you do uses muscles, and can be thought of as an 'exercise' for those muscles. So everything that involves moving your feet, will exercise your 'calf' muscles (Tricep Surae or Soleus and Gastrocnemius).

Stretching is usually taught as part of a 'warmup', but these stretches are meant to be done very gently and not for very long, because the muscles are more easily damaged when they haven't been working hard for a while.

The heat that builds up during exercise makes your muscles more flexible, and they 'pump up' with extra fluid as well. These effects can protect the muscles and allow some longer and more effective stretches while your body is still warm. During a cooldown, you should put on an extra layer of clothing to keep some heat in.

Stretching near the END of an exercise session (usually as part of the 'cool down') will make your joints more flexible & mobile (but don't overdo it - floppy joints are vulnerable to injury) and ALSO squeezes waste products (from the energy reactions that power your movements) out of the muscle.

Some of these waste products can cause soreness, or make the normal 'training ache' worse. Tightness and cramp are typical reactions when this happens repeatedly.

(Usually, 'aching' is OK, but 'pain' is bad; but this difference depends on how you use the words).

As well as stretching very gently at the start of a session, and stretching gently but for longer at the end, you should also be stretching when you get up in the morning (very very gently, to prepare for activity during the day after your muscles have rested overnight), and before you go to sleep (to relax out tension left over from the day, so that you can sleep as restfully as possible.

The particular pain you are feeling may not be something that can be dealt with by doing more stretching. Overstretching (usually, stretching too hard) and overtraining (too much weight, or too aggressive a focus, or too long a session) can cause muscle pain, too, and your calves can tighten or spasm (cramp) as a form of protective response.

A physiotherapist will be able to identify the source of the pain, and advise you about injury prevention.

Answer 2

Bananas are a top idea, although it's important to stretch not just your calf muscles, but your whole lower body. Remember the longer and slower the stretch, the more effective it will be. Stretch a muscle too quickly and it will react by contracting (it's how the knee jerk reflex works).
Stretch until you just start to feel the stretch and hold for 7-10 seconds. Relax and repeat a couple of times.
Also important is to give yourself a rest day, maybe even twice a week, where you do less or only stretch.
If you're still having snags after 3 weeks, see an Osteopath.

Answer 3

Taking potassium in the form of bananas, orange juice or tomatoes is a good suggestion as is extra water.

Make sure you are wearing supportive shoes.

If you are doing this everyday, you might want to either alternate the walking with the trampoline to every other day, or only exercise every other day. Your muscles sound as if they aren't getting sufficient time to dissipate the lactic acid buildup and to repair themselves.

Answer 4

stretch, more stretching. then take a nice long hot bath or shower to loosen up all your muscles. then stretch again. then start walking and trampolining. if all fails, then i suggest you get some calf implants. hey, its worked for me. try it.

Answer 5

bananas, water, warm up, and warm down. what helps me is to stand on the bottom step of some stairs on the balls of my feet. then push your heels toward the ground. half you foot should be on the step and half off when you do this. hope you feel better!

Answer 6

Eat bananas or take a potassium supplement.

Answer 7

Cramps usually indicate insuffiencient salt intake as well. Make sure you have enough salt.

Answer 8

may be extra water intake

may be too rapid a movement for this stage of your exercise regime

seek medical advice as needed


best wishes!

Answer 9

Everyone who says bananas is right!! You could also drink some Coca-Cola.

Answer 10

Try Streching them for a longer period of time. But maybe you not steching them right.