Cramps

Q: What is a muscle cramp? What causes muscle cramps?
A: A muscle cramp is a sudden involuntary contraction of a muscle or muscles. A cramp produces a hard, painful, and bulging muscle.

Most common theories/causes of a muscle cramp are:

• Muscle fatigue do to over exertion or heavy exercise
• Dehydration
• Pregnancy
• Heat cramps

Treatments for a cramp include:

• Stretching the cramped muscle
• Remaining hydrated during prolonged periods of exercise
• Icing and massaging the cramped muscle

Any skeletal muscle can cramp. Most cramps occur in the extremities. A common leg cramp is when the gastrocnemius or soleus (calf muscles) cramp. It is important to distinguish a cramp from another common condition called Acute Compartment Syndrome.

Muscles are contained within compartments. Acute Compartment Syndrome occurs when pressure builds within the compartment due to lactic acid build up and blood rushing to the muscle during strength training. The engulfed muscle presses on blood vessels, nerves, and/or tendons that run through the compartment. The pressure leads to a feeling of muscle cramping or muscle pain. However, since there is not a sudden involuntary contraction of the muscle a cramp is not occurring.

Muscle vs. Fat

Q: As I progressed through my strength training at Fitness First, I have noticed a change in my physical appearance and my clothes fitting looser, but my weight has stayed about the same. Why?

A: Strength training is a very efficient weight modification activity. As clients progress through the strength training appointments, they will gain lean muscle. Each pound of muscle gained requires an additional 50 calories a day to sustain itself. So, with no other changes in diet or activity level, strength training will lead to gains in muscle and a reduction in fat because you are continually burning calories throughout your day.

In terms of why clothes fit differently or why your physical appearance changes with no change in scale weight, the answer is due to the fact that muscle is more dense that fat.

A pound of lean muscle takes up less space than a pound of fat. In fact, a pound of fat will be at least twice the volume as a pound of muscle.

The key is to focus on qualitative measures of health such as fat composition, cholesterol levels, and blood pressure rather than focusing on quantitative measure of health such as body weight or body mass index.