How to Prevent Cramps in a Marathon

Cramps, while a temporary condition, can hobble your marathon effort. You can avoid falling victim to cramps by understanding how and why they occur.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Running Clothes
• Running Shoes
• Running Socks

1. Know the cause. Some runners get cramps if they've eaten too close to running. Also, running harder or faster than you're accustomed to, in hot weather, can cause cramping.

2. Avoid heat cramps. These are caused by loss of water and salt from sweat that isn't replaced, especially during exercise in hot, humid weather.

3. Watch your shoes. Shoes that are too inflexible in the ball of the foot or too tight in the forefoot can cause cramping.

4. Stretch. Make sure the leg muscles, especially the hamstrings, are kept flexible by stretching.

5. Watch your diet. Cramps may be a sign of a dietary deficiency in potassium, sodium, calcium or magnesium.

6. Don't compare yourself with others. Some runners are simply more prone to cramp than others.

Tips & Warnings

• Relieve heat cramps by massaging cramped muscles.
• Take it easy. If you develop a leg cramp, slow down or stop running. Massage and slowly stretch and relax the involved muscle.
• Lean over and press in at the site of a stomach cramp. You can also try raising your arm(s) up high to stretch out the area.
• Relax and breathe. Don't continually suck in air, which can cause cramping in the diaphragm. If this is your problem, focus on pushing air out through your mouth every few breaths.
• If you have any condition that would impair or limit your ability to engage in physical activity, please consult a physician before attempting this activity. This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice or treatment.

Who Can Help:

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on 11/22/2005 Squeeze your upper lip, in the center, just below your nose. Don't squeeze hard. Hold on to your upper lip until the cramp in your leg goes away. It may take 20 or 30 seconds.

The first time you try this, you'll think it is useless - the cramp would have gone away in this amount of time anyway. After you've tried it three or four times, you'll agree that it really does work.

If you've been a regular sufferer of leg cramps, you can squeeze your upper lip the moment you get the slightest tension in your leg (that's usually a warning sign of a cramp coming on). Squeezing your lip prevents you from developing a real cramp by relaxing your leg muscles.

Someone told me that there is an acupuncture point in your upper lip. This is why squeezing the lip relaxes your leg muscles. Whether that's right or not, I don't know - all I do know is that squeezing your lip is simple, and it can be done anywhere.