Cramps While Running!!!

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OK, I've been walking briskly for the last two weeks, but everytime I try to jog lightly, I get a cramp on my left side. It won't go away during the rest of my work out. I don't eat two hours before I exercise, so I don't understand what the problem is. Any help would be appreciated. This only happens when I try to run or jog.

I used to get the same thing all the time. I just figured I was losing a lot of minerals or whatever when I sweated, so I drank a lot of Gatorade before and after I ran and the problem seemed to clear up.

eating a bananas helps a lot with any kinda cramps as they are full of potassium.

That's commonly called a "stitch" in your side. A lot of water, bananas (like the lady said), not running on a full stomach, and (most of all) stretching will alleviate them. Stretching is very important. In fact, if it gets too bad while you're running, stop for a minute and stretch out the side. It should help.

Here we go again. Stretching serves no useful purpose. Studies have shown that to be the case. In fact, people who stretch before exercising had a slightly higher incidence of injury (probably from overextending themselves while stretching).Warming up, however, seems useful. When I exercise, I ramp it up. But I never stretch, no matter how cool it may look.

I disagree, and have always found stretching to be very useful. Furthermore, the studies on the subject have been sharply divided. THe most famous one took place at Kapooka Health Centre, New South Wales, Australia. It was conducted on 1,538 army recruits. But three years later an almost identical study on another batch of recruits reported that static stretching helped to decrease risk of muscle injury. And anyone who stretches regularly can tell you that it increases your flexibility.A good and well-balanced view on stretching is here.

That's an old study and an old article. Here is an article that discusses a more recent CDC study.Excerpt:In reply to:Surprisingly, and much to the contrary of what is commonly believed, the study found that stretching does very little to prevent injury. The study claims it is inconclusive to suggest stretching does anything to prevent injury.The study combined five different databases of studies that compared stretching to other forms of injury prevention.The study found that each pool of stretchers and non-stretchers experienced an almost equal number of injuries such as a pulled muscles, that stretching previously was considered to help prevent.

That CDC study, if you read it, was only a secondary analysis. They compared four different databases of studies, parsing through them to remove those that lacked controls, those that did not compare stretching with other methods of accident prevention, etc. Out of 361 articles, only 6 were eventually found to be relevant. And in the end, what they found was that there was not enough evidence to either endorse OR discredit stretching. They were forced to conclude that more trials were needed, actual randomized participant trials. And as far as I have been able to find, these trials have not yet been run.In short: the empirical evidence is not conclusive at this point. Don't act like it is.

In short: the empirical evidence is not conclusive at this point.So then there's no point doing it.> Don't act like it is.You said:> Stretching is very important.and:>I disagree, and have always found stretching to be very useful. Logically, if you make an assertive claim (e.g., aspirin cures headaches, peach pits cure cancer), you have to back it up. It's fallacious to try to prove the negative.If, after all that evidence, we find that stretching serves a useful purpose is inconclusive, then I'd have to consider stretching some sort of a religious ritual.

There is a wealth of anecdotal evidence to back up my position. Sure, it's not the same as a well-done and comprehensive series of studies, but in lieu of those I will take it.

There's all kinds of anecdotal evidence about all kinds of things medical, and an awful lot of it turns out to be wrong. You should have made it more clear when to the poster with the cramp in her side what you based your advice on. And I seriously doubt that her pain in any way relates to a need for stretching.

Tell me why I get shin splints if I run consistantly, multiple times a week, without stretching. If stretching doesn't give much benefit, then explain it, I'm all ears. When I do stretch properly (more important to do it as part of my cool down than warm up), I don't get nearly as many problems with inflamation related injuries, such as shin splints.What I do realize is that stretching should only be done after doing a warm up, and should never be overdone. It's most important to stretch after an activity than before. Before a warm up, static stretching isn't nearly as effective as other kinds of stretching, as static stretching serves mostly to improve flexibility in the long run and prevent muscles from tensing up too quickly after and activity. There are other types of stretching, other than static, that help to get the blood flowing through muscles that are going to be worked. As far as cramps go, mrphaethon hit it dead on. Water, potassium, and not eating on a full stomach. I've also found from PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, that he's right about stretching helping to alleviate some of the cramping pain that I may get while running. I don't do static stretches for that, but trunk rotations (rotating your upper body around in circles) works well.

I thought it was obvious that I was speaking my opinion based on my past experiences. I generally don't cite sources unless someone declares on similarly thin evidence that I am wrong.I was on the cross-country team in high school. This is where my information on the subject mainly comes from. Five or six miles a day on weekdays, ten a day on weekends. Races of three miles over rough terrain. Weight training, different stretching regimines, etc.So. Anyway.-In my experience and opinion, despite the lack of empirical evidence for or against it, I find stretching is excellent and it helps.-I will submit my references in triplicate by the end of the workday.

In reply to:I was on the cross-country team in high school.Another cross-country guy woot!

I was on the cross-country team in high school. This is where my information on the subject mainly comes from.High school cross country coaches are not generally known to keep up with the latest sports medicine research. People tend to do what they do because that's how they always did it.In reply to:Tell me why I get shin splints if I run consistantly, multiple times a week, without stretching. If stretching doesn't give much benefit, then explain it, I'm all ears. When I do stretch properly (more important to do it as part of my cool down than warm up), I don't get nearly as many problems with inflamation related injuries, such as shin splints.I haven't even met you, so I have no idea. It might be a placebo effect (stranger things have happened), or you might be doing something while you're stretching that works for you.In reply to:What I do realize is that stretching should only be done after doing a warm up, and should never be overdone. It's most important to stretch after an activity than before. Before a warm up, static stretching isn't nearly as effective as other kinds of stretching, as static stretching serves mostly to improve flexibility in the long run and prevent muscles from tensing up too quickly after and activity. There are other types of stretching, other than static, that help to get the blood flowing through muscles that are going to be worked.You sound as if these things are known, scientifically-proven facts. They are not. This is your opinion based on your subjective experience and anecdotal evidence. It's the same reason that people believe in the power of psychics.In reply to:As far as cramps go, mrphaethon hit it dead on. Water, potassium, and not eating on a full stomach.No problem with that (I assume you meant not running on a full stomach).In reply to:I've also found from PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, that he's right about stretching helping to alleviate some of the cramping pain that I may get while running. I don't do static stretches for that, but trunk rotations (rotating your upper body around in circles) works well.I myself have not seen this correlation when I run. Likewise for the gym. I use just about every machine they have that doesn't involve mounting weights, and many that do. I find that not overextending and not overworking to be an effective deterrent to cramps.As for MizzDakota, it's pretty difficult to diagnose her problem based on her short description of it.But the big problem I have with stretching in general is that people abuse it. They reach for the floor and bounce their backs, putting a lot of stress on the spine. Likewise for limbs. Just telling someone to stretch is like telling them to use a circular saw, when they have no idea how the thing works. That makes it worse than useless.

if ur just starting off, then cramps are normal. Just keep at it forawhile and it should go away. And if that doesent work, then look for a round stone.

In reply to:But the big problem I have with stretching in general is that people abuse it. They reach for the floor and bounce their backs, putting a lot of stress on the spine. Likewise for limbs. Just telling someone to stretch is like telling them to use a circular saw, when they have no idea how the thing works. That makes it worse than useless. I completely agree with you on that. Many people overdo stretching and don't do it properly.In reply to:and not eating on a full stomach.No problem with that (I assume you meant not running on a full stomach).Lol, not eating on a full stomach would make sense but it really has nothing to do with this now does it. I'm not sure why I said that