What should you do if you are a runner and you have either experienced leg cramps at night after running, or you’ve heard about them and want to avoid leg cramps at night after running? It’s a frustrating, so in this article I’ll help by discussing the theories around what this sort of cramp might be caused by, so you can try to avoid it, and what to do if you do experience it, both during the cramping and afterwards.
- What causes night cramps?
- What to do during the cramp?
- What to do after the night cramps?
- Getting them regularly?
Leg cramps at night after running is an often painful experience where the muscles in the legs contract hard on their own, mostly in the calf or hamstring, or sometimes the soles of the feet. I’ve had it a few times. It’s annoying because the leg cramp is painful enough to wake you up and can have further consequences that might impact your running schedule.
If you haven’t yet had leg cramps while sleeping, continue reading so you have ideas on what to do if it ever does happen. Whilst most of my articles are very science based, this one is more based on what works for me. If you have any extra ideas, I’d love to hear them in the comments.
What causes night cramps?
No one is actually sure what causes night cramps. There are theories floating around about potassium and sodium imbalance due to either sweating out salts or poor nutrition, but I think this is flawed due to the fact it only happens to runners in the legs, whereas salt balance is a body-wide function.
Dehydration is also thrown around as another possible cause. Although I’ve only had night cramps a few times, it has never been while dehydrated. Similarly, I’ve never had cramps at night while dehydrated, and I’ve been slightly dehydrated often after long runs.
I believe that leg cramps at night after running are actually a fatigue issue from training hard with lack of sufficient recovery, and over a number of days / weeks, not just one day. This gradual build-up of insufficient recovery is then pushed over the limit by one hard training session or race. The nerves get confused during recovery at night and off they go into spasm. This is the pattern of the few times it has happened to me anyway and it also matches up with why the cramps only happen in the legs, not the arms or torso – the legs are the bit doing all the work.
So to avoid this type of cramp, focus on your recovery. Recovery is equally as important as the running, so listen to your body and learn when to take days off. Get a running coach.
What to do during the cramp?
Hopefully you’ll never get night cramp. But if you do, you’ll wake up pretty suddenly, because it’s normally immensely painful. The legs will be trying to bend due to the contracting muscles and the nerves aren’t under conscious control being still in sleep mode, so it’s time to wake them up! You’ll be lying down. Using your mind (not by pulling on them with your hand), pull the ankle / toes back towards you, and push the knee straight. Then quickly relax and then re-tense everything, as if you are trying to kick the end of the bed with the sole of your foot. For me, it wakes the nerves in the legs up enough so they stop cramping. Alternate both legs, even if only one is cramping, because it makes the motion easier. Then put some money in the swear jar.
What to do after the night cramps?
Night cramps might seem to go away quite quickly, but even a mild and short cramping episode can damage the muscles enough to have serious consequences, even if it doesn’t appear that way at the time and you quickly go back to sleep. My recommendation is that after a night cramp, you should just take a few days off from running so you minimise the risk of pulling an already damaged muscle. It will also help your legs recover from whatever fatiguing training initiated the cramp in the first place. A few days off from running is better than a few weeks off from running! I know this because one of the times I had leg cramps in the night, I forgot all about them and went running the next day; two miles into an easy run, my calf muscle tore in exactly the place the cramp had happened and I had to take a few weeks off. There had been no sign of any other issues with the calf before that and until I remembered about the cramp, I was properly mystified! Note that it wasn’t even that bad a cramp – I’d had a lot worse on prior occasions.
Getting them regularly?
If you are regularly getting leg cramps in the night after running, then consider getting checked out by a physician and doing some easy training for a few weeks. It’s not normal and should be something runners only experience rarely, if at all.
Have you had night cramps after running? If you’ve had them, let me know how you dealt with it in the comments below.
