Today I’ve been researching some info about muscle cramps.

Last month in the mountains, while climbing a practically vertical wall of about 120 feet, I’ve got a severe muscle cramp in both hamstrings. Basically I couldn’t use my legs and was hanging there for several moments, a 50lbs backpack behind my shoulders, clenching my teeth together in pain. Luckily I was only a few feet away from a plateau, so I could get there and rest a few minutes, stretching and making the cramps go away.

All this happened after 4 hours of hiking. I consider myself a fit person, so it was kindof strange to get in that situation in the first place.

So after some research I’ve found that fitness doesn’t always play a big role when it comes to muscle cramps. Some of the reasons for muscle cramps may include:

• Poor Hydration, which was probably my case
• Fatigue (I’ve been sleeping only 2 hours the night earlier)
• Poor Flexibility (not really my case)
• Poor Nutrition (Maybe it was my case)
• Not enough oxygen (Usually I don’t do any hiking at those altitudes)

Even the strongest swimmers can get a muscle cramp in moments they don’t expect. I’ve heard some swimmers take a needle with them when they swim long distances into the sea, because apparently a muscle cramp goes away when you strike the muscle with a needle. I don’t know if I’d have the guts to do that, but I guess the perspective is a little bit different when you are “on the edge”. We all can do wonders when it comes to our pesonal life ;).

A needle wouldn’t help me much on that wall though, as my hands were a little bit busy in that moment

You can read more about muscle cramps here.