Drink Enough Water
Dehydration is one of the main causes of muscle cramps during exercise. Physical activities need to be performed in the aqueous environment. When you exercise, the water in your body may be lost. The organs, tissues and muscles in your body need water to function well.
Loss of water and dehydration may increase the risk of muscle cramps. Therefore, if you want to prevent muscle cramps before and after exercise, you should drink about 8 glasses of water daily.
Moreover, before and during exercise, it is necessary to supply the water to your body, to replace the water lost through sweating.
The Need for Salt
Fluids aren't alone in the task of maintaining your body's fluid balance. Electrolytes control the shift of fluids in and out of cells. The electrolyte of most concern during exercise is sodium. Found as sodium chloride in table salt. We lose more sodium in sweat than the other electrolytes. Both water and sodium are lost in sweat. Replacement of water without sodium can lead to dangerously low blood sodium levels, called hyponatremia. Hyponatremia will also occur if you are sweating a lot and simply losing a lot of sodium in sweat. This is most likely to occur during endurance exercise or with repeated sweating throughout the day. Muscle cramps may occur when the concentration of sodium in the blood decreases; cramps can progress to a serious medical emergency when hyponatremia is not treated.
To prevent hyponatremia and the muscle cramps it may cause, sodium should be consumed with fluids. This is particularly useful for cramp-prone individuals. High sodium sports drinks can delay muscle cramps in those who cramp often. Sodium may be consumed from salty foods (such as pretzels) or through sports products.
Train specifically for your race.
Most cramps happen when you push yourself harder than you’re used to. If you make your training more similar to racing in terms of intensity and duration, then you’re probably less likely to cramp.
Stretching
One thing that nearly everybody agrees upon is that a regular stretching program targeted at muscles prone to cramping can greatly reduce the incidence of exercise associated muscle cramps as well as stopping cramp once it’s started (14,15). Passive stretches held
for 15-30 seconds at time seem to be effective; the mechanism is unclear but a regular program of stretching is known to lengthen muscle fibres, favourably altering spinal neural reflex activity. Regular massage may also be beneficial as it promotes general muscle relaxation and helps accelerate the disposal of exercise metabolites from muscles cells.
Eat A Healthy Nutritional Diet
A healthy nutritional diet is necessary if you want to protect your health from damages, diseases, and ailments.
Moreover, a healthy nutritional diet can give you a plenty of nutrients, essential minerals and vital vitamins that help you prevent muscle cramps as well as a variety of damages during exercises.
Try a vitamin
Some studies suggest getting enough vitamins and minerals — including vitamin B, D, E, magnesium, and zinc — may help ward off the attack of a muscle cramp (or at least help ease the pain).