Leg cramps
 

So, the other night as I was sleeping, I got this intense cramp in my left calf. It totally sucked. This has happened maybe 5 times in the last 15 years or so (during sleep that is). Once in a while my toe does the same thing, it locks up and cramps.

I guess I am prone to cramps in my calves (left and right but only one at a time. It used to be from intense basketball and football (like at the end of a 3-4 hour session of play). I do stretch and take gatorade, water, etc. Maybe I just need more.

Does this happen to anyone else? How do you remedy or prevent these things? My leg is still sore from the cramping and that was Saturday night/Sunday morning when it happened.

Try stretching. While your doing it message the muscle being stretched towards your heart; when you use a muscle extensively a chemical is released which can cause pain, soreness, and cramping. I'll do some research on other causes in case this doesn't help.

Try increasing the potassium in your diet. Bananas are your friends. Potassium is necessary for proper functioning of your muscle tissue, and it's pretty common for the calf muscles to react to low potassium first. More water/electrolytes is always a good idea, of course.

Didja know that the calf muscle is called the gastrocnemius? :D

As Jess said--more potassium. Eat a banana and drink a glass of skim milk.

It'll work wonders.

A cramp like that is sometimes called a charlie horse, and it's usually caused by dehydration, or as said above, lack of potassium.

Eating something with potassium has an almost immediate effect, and you'll notice that you won't get those types of cramps anymore as long as you eat enough potassium.

The chemical Ch'i was referring to is lactic acid. It build up during exercise such as lifting weights and causes the burning sensation that you feel in muscles during intense exercises. This won't cause the soreness later though, however.

My best advice is essentially as the above posts.
1) Stretching before AND after exercise
2) Sodium and Potassium, these are the electrolytes that your muscles need.

There's this daily column in our local newspaper by a Dr. Peter Gott. I think it is nationally syndicated. Anyway, lots of people swear that by sleeping with a bar of soap nightly leg cramps stop. Power of suggestion, maybe, probably, but if they stop what do you care? Put a bar of Dial, Irish Spring, etc, leave it in the package and give it a try. Can there be any harm? Eat a few bananas as well.

you need lots of water (not before you play sports, but drink a lot of water regularly) and bananas for potassium. i used to get cramps like that too but hope this helps

If you play hard and then just stop you'll also set yourself up for cramps. I ride a bike and know I need to keep my legs going as I cool down some. I've been so tired before I've just jumped off and sat down - and then the pain kicked in. Wow!

So when a game is over, try to jog around a little and get the blood moving out of your legs.

The night thing is different. I used to have that when I was younger. Never did figure it out unless I was tensing up when I was sleeping. And that may be it as I used to grind my teeth as well when sleeping back then.