My trouble is leg cramps, which I often get at the end of a long run or sometime soon after a hefty workout. I'm not sure if the summer heat is making it worse, or if I'm just not drinking enough fluids. People always talk about bananas curing cramps because of the potassium. My trouble is leg cramps, which I often get at the end of a long run or sometime soon after a hefty workout. I'm not sure if the summer heat is making it worse, or if I'm just not drinking enough fluids.
People always talk about bananas curing cramps because of the potassium.
As you noted, these painful muscle spasms usually strike during a long session of exercise or soon after you finish. Unfortunately they often cut workouts short and can deter some people from exercise altogether. Let's take a look at the most likely cause for your muscle cramps and then give you some advice on prevention, including dietary strategies. The cause of exercise-induced cramping has been debated for years. For decades, researchers postulated that dehydration from heavy sweating on hot days and loss of electrolytes like sodium and potassium were to blame for exercise-related cramps.