If you drink water with this, you’ll never have muscle cramps again

Nothing derails a workout or jog quite like a muscle cramp. When a painful cramp occurs, many people instinctively reach for some water. While it is true that dehydration can lead to muscle cramps, a new study just released by Edith Cowan University reports beverages containing electrolytes are a superior choice to regular old water when it comes to preventing and stopping muscle cramps.

“Many people think dehydration causes muscle cramps and will drink pure water while exercising to prevent cramping,” says lead researcher Professor Ken Nosaka, from ECU’s School of Medical and Health Sciences. “We found that people who solely drink plain water before and after exercise could in fact be making them more prone to cramps. This is likely because pure water dilutes the electrolyte concentration in our bodies and doesn’t replace what is lost during sweating.”

Electrolytes are probably most synonymous with sports drinks like Gatorade, but beyond that many people may not know exactly what electrolytes are or what purpose they serve. Electrolytes are minerals in our bodies such as magnesium, chloride, sodium, and potassium. Without electrolytes, our muscles would wither away and our bodies wouldn’t be able to absorb water.

“Electrolytes are vital to good health – they help the body to absorb water more effectively than plain water and replace essential minerals lost through sweat or illness,” professor Nosaka explains. “People should consider drinking oral rehydration fluids instead of plain water during moderate to intense exercise, when it’s very hot or when you are sick from diarrhea or vomiting.”

This research found that a group of people who drank electrolytes during and after an exercise session was less susceptible to muscle cramps than when they had been consuming just water while working out.

In all, the experiment featured 10 men running on a downhill treadmill within a particularly hot room (95 degrees F). Each subject ran on the treadmill for 40-60 minutes on two occasions; once while drinking electrolyte-infused water and once while drinking plain old water. On average, each runner lost about 1.5% to 2% of their body fat while using the treadmill.

After each exercise session, electrical stimulation was applied to participants’ calves to induce a muscle cramp. When the men had been drinking electrolytes, it took much more electricity to jumpstart a muscle cramp. This indicates that electrolytes provide more robust protection against muscle cramps.

“We found that the electrical frequency required to induce cramp increased when people drank the electrolyte water but decreased when they consumed plain water,” Professor Nosaka adds. “This indicates that muscles become more prone to cramp by drinking plain water, but more immune to muscle cramp by drinking the electrolyte water.”

Moving forward, the study authors are planning on conducting further research on this topic. For instance, what is the ideal amount of electrolytes to ingest before, during, and after a workout to avoid muscle cramps?

The full study can be found here, published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition.