Cramps during cardio, anything I'm doing wrong?

[TheMalice]

I've been doing High intensity intervals for weeks now and have felt fine, but yesterday and today when running my hamstring and calves seemed to cramp up once I sped up. After one or two runs it becomes very irritating and I'm forced to stop.

Here's some facts that you might ask
-I drink close to (if not more) 100oz of water a day
-Usually have a banana for the potassium
-Been recently eating much healthier so my sodium intake might be lower but not sure how important this is
-I do not stretch as I'm unsure if its necessary for cardio

If there's anything else I didn't add just ask, could definitely use some help on this one though, my workouts just aren't the same without it! Thank you in advance.

 

[elite7777]

1st, take some time off and stretch. If you have an injury, you don't want to make it worse. Are you drinking a sports drink before you do your intervals? If not, I would recommend something like 12 to 16 oz of Accelerade from Pacific Health 45 min before exercise. I also drink it and straight water, during and after as well. Make sure you are taking a solid balance of vitamins and minerals including fish oils. Also, look into Beta-Alanine, L-Glutamine, and CoQ-10. These are all supplements that I take.

How many hours are you putting in per week? How long are your workouts?

 

[SPARTAN1/75]

What type of temperatures are you training in and how much do you sweat. Sodium is just as important as potassium. If you sweat a lot then sodium will follow water which is leaving your body so a sodium buffer may be in need. It may sound odd but try dill pickle juice. It is a temporary fix but works quickly. You may be drinking to much water and you could be flushing electrolytes out of your system.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using EliteFitness

 

[NattyShirts.com]

Cramping is the fist sign of your body telling you that you need to electrolytes you are low on them it is the combination of Sodium, Potassium,sugar Magnesium all in all because you lose them while you are doing any type of high intensity training whether it maybe cardio or weight training My personal suggestion is at least 10 to 12 glasses of water and some type of drink that replenishes electrolytes such as Gatorade or any type of vitamin water etc etc.