“Exercise-related muscle cramps are common in hot weather, although probably not because the weather is hot. The fundamental cause of muscle cramps is in fact one of the continuing mysteries of physiology. Extremely pervasive, they can afflict anyone. We’ve all seen Olympians pull off the running track clutching a cramping calf muscle. I’ve been on bike rides with friends whose backs have begun to spasm. That was before I knew about pickle juice.”
“Pickle juice had “relieved a cramp 45 percent faster” than drinking no fluids and about 37 percent faster than water, Dr. Miller wrote.”
“But for now, pickle juice is gaining adherents. In a survey of collegiate athletic trainers, a quarter of them said that they regularly dispense pickle juice to cramp-stricken athletes and that, in their experience, the stuff quickly brakes the cramping. So if your calf or other muscle suddenly, painfully catches, “try stretching it,” Dr. Miller says. Doing so has been found in laboratory studies to significantly shorten the duration of a muscle cramp, most likely by shaking up and resetting the misfiring muscle and nerve reflexes. Or drain your emergency flask of Vlasic juice. It’s not as palatable as bananas, Dr. Miller says, but unlike them, “it seems to work.”
“The First 20 Minutes : Surprising Science Reveals How We Can Exercise Better Train Smarter Live Longer”
pgs 154-156
by Gretchen Reynolds
613.71 R46f