jump out of bed in pain.  Cramps can occur during and after exercise, up to 6 hours afterward in fact.  While there are actually many types of cramps, I’m going to focus on the most common type or “true cramp”.

I’ve already mentioned the importance of water, but so are sodium and potassium.  This is why a lot of people recommend bananas – for their potassium.  But you need to have these in your body before the cramp begins, as prevention.  Eating a banana while you are grabbing your calf isn’t going to do much other than make the rest of us laugh at you.

Vitamin B is also believed to help prevent cramps from happening.  So again, you need to have Vitamin B in your daily diet and not pop a couple of pills while you are trying to eat that banana and grasp your leg!

What other forms of prevention are there?  Plyometrics strengthen your muscles which can prevent them from tiring and cramping.  Now you have another reason to come to boot camp!!

Always, always, always warm up and cool down when exercising!  Include foam rolling and stretching in your routine.

If after drinking ample water, eating bananas like a monkey, taking your B vitamins, warming up, jumping around, cooling down and stretching, and you still get a cramp, try and relax the muscle by stretching and massaging it.  If your cramp is very intense, you may also want to take a couple of anti-inflammatories to ease the soreness.