For some reason, it seems like ever since I started lifting on a regular basis, I've also started having nocturnal leg cramps on a regular basis. You know, those charlie-horse cramp things you get in your calf muscles? I'm scared to stretch my legs out when I sleep now cause it usually triggers a cramp! I sleep on my side in the fetal position usually, could this have something to do with it or is it a nutritional deficiency or what?

Are you doing a lot of heavy leg exercises?

The times I get the type of leg cramps it sounds like you're describing is when I've really overdid as far as my running or for me especially by biking... also if I go really low carb I get them too...

I know people who supplement with Mg and they say that helps... but it could also be Na, Ca, and K+ too... I'll take some extra Mg on top of my MultiVit... and I know that I get more than enough Na... lol... but I don't mess around with K+ supplements... I just do my best to get that from my food... and also make sure that I'm well hydrated and that usually takes care of them...

It happened to me at last summer when I was training for a half-marathon and not eating properly for the amount of exercise I was doing. I was clearly lacking some essential nutrients.

I am now taking a multivitamin everyday and it's been better since that time. I'm with tripswitch, maybe try a multivit and a supplement of Mg or Ca

Good luck!

I think they can be caused by not drinking enough water...are you getting plenty of water?

My calves are so prone to cramping that I was actually afraid to stretch them out at night, too. I would wake up in the middle of the night feeling like someone was stabbing my leg, it hurt so bad. I haven't had any in a while & I think it's because I've been eating a lot of fruits & some vegetables for potassium & whatever else I may have been deficient in. I drink more water now, too.

Oh yeah, and I've been stretching them out with a foam roller after my workouts. The first time I used my foam roller I couldn't believe how many knots my calf muscles had! They definitely feel a lot less tight now.

HI,
At night I take 2 magnesium pills with a glass of diet tonic water with QUININE. This works for me. Maybe you could ask you doc if it might work for you. The water MUST have quinine in it. NO cramps since I started this. Good luck-those cramps really hurt!
Sheridan

Eat a banana. You could be missing potassium. Stretching will help. Good luck.

I'm going to second the potassium. I was a swimmer in high school and also took weight lifting classes, if I didn't have enough potassium n my diet I would get charlie horses on almost a daily basis.

Banana and water.

I might have to start taking a supplement, at least a potassium supplement. I eat bananas all the time and drink plenty of water but apparently its not enough. Should I eat bananas right after I work out? Would that help? I do work out at night before I go to bed often, so that might be why I'm having the problem. I eat my bananas during the day, so I guess I'm sweating out whatever the banana gave me during the day when I work out, lol.

Do you have a regular doctor you can see? I've been having some cramps in my toes (of all things) and have been researching taking a potassium supplement and it seems like it's really only something you should do if your blood tests low in potassium. I am by no means an expert though!

And it looks like we are weight buddies--around the same height, around the same weight, and both hoping to get to normal BMI! I'm also originally from SC

My initial thoughts are that you are either low in salt (which causes cramping) or you are working out too hard and not giving your body enough time to heal. You could be dehydrated too? Usually whenever I do a a harder workout, I spend that night with sore calves that would cramp if I stretched them but it's gone by the morning.

How long have you been exercising? Maybe you are doing too much too fast?

My mom suffers extremely painful and frequent leg cramps. I do, too, but not to the extent that she does. She has researched for years to find the best way to keep them at bay and she has some pretty good tips.

-Lots of water
-A cal/mag supplement (this is awesome for regular bowel movement, too)
-A quality B complex vitamin
-Hylands, a homeopathic company, makes tabs that dissolve under your tongue that stop leg cramps immediately. They honesty work, and they are cheap on Amazon, Swanson Vitamins and Vitacost
-A shot (like, in a shot glass) of raw apple cider vinegar also stops leg cramps in their tracks pretty much immediately. Hard to stomach at times, but it works, and it's another one of those things that just plain good for you.

i have no clue about potassium being the cause, might be, but in my experience, not enought WATER definitely caused those cramps at night...

Try eating more potassium. I had that happen to me during basic training when I joined the navy. A banana a day really helped.