When you train, how do you prevent your hands from cramping up?

[themartinfamily]

So this happened when I was training legs. I was holding a 14kg dumbbell in each of my hands. I was doing dumbbell step ups using a chair and my hands kept on cramping. Usually I am able to easily hit 20-24 reps (10-12 per leg) with this weight and for the past 4 weeks or so, I could easily do this. But the last time I trained legs (February 4th), I could only do 16 reps and I had to keep stopping during my sets to rest my hands. Ever since then, whenever I do exercises that involve me gripping something (e.g. pullups, calf raises, dumbbell squats) this happens and it's getting very concerning. Keep in mind that I am only 17, so this rules out any possibility of me having arthritis.

I'm worried that this might start affecting my progress and cause my workouts to take much longer than they should.

 

[sugarcookies]

@themartinfamily Generally speaking, cramping tends to happen from excessive muscle fatigue and/or a severe lack of hydration. Apart from on sets that take long to finish, such as unilateral work, I have never consistently experienced what you describe.

 

[themartinfamily]

@sugarcookies Water might be the issue. I live in Australia and there is a nasty heatwave going on here right now. I usually drink 3-4 litres a day on average, but I'm not sure if this is even enough.

 

[davis18]

@themartinfamily To add - it can be a combination of dehydration AND electrolyte balance, namely salt/potassium (which is a salt in most forms but just making sure both sodium and potassium are called out).

In a heatwave, sports drinks are literally designed to counter your use case. Get some cheap Gatorade powder, doesn't matter if it's sugar free or not and just chug some before and during your next workout. Any equivalent is fine too - powerade, whatever Bogan equivalent exists lol. See if that helps.

 

[themartinfamily]

@davis18 Would taking pre-workout in the place of gatorade suffice?

 

[davis18]

@themartinfamily they're not usually the same - pre-workout will usually have a little salt in it but mostly for flavor. It also depends on what your pre-workout is

But realistically you need to have salt and water enter your body as you workout. Potassium deficit can cause cramps, and sodium deficit can cause... well, a lot of things but also cramps. If you don't have Gatorade or a sports drink available you could also try just eating or drinking salty stuff before your workout. Add extra salt to your pre-workout meal or even to the pre-workout drink directly. And of course, hydrate along with that.

We're all diagnosing based off the heat wave/dehydrated assumption - if adding salt and more water helps, it's likely the culprit.

 

[themartinfamily]

@davis18 Got it. Thanks.

 

[jbreyes777]

@themartinfamily Pre workouts tend to have caffeine in them which can contribute to dehydration, so I would stick to sports drinks.

 

[maryannobryandysart]

@jbreyes777 That dehydrating impact would be delayed not impacting that session though, and then counter balanced by the volume of water post workout I think?

If you're drinking as much as you say with some of it in the hours before a workout, as well as after, I would suggest a Banana no more than half hour before workout as my two cents.

Cheap accessible option in Aus and has other benefits.

In general I think this thread has the most reasonable arguments.

 

[sugarcookies]

@themartinfamily I drink that on average, and it's winter where I live. I would definitely bump that up.

 

[themartinfamily]

@sugarcookies I'll try to get 5 litres in. Thanks.

 

[eighty]

@themartinfamily need salt as well, you dilute the electrolytes if you just slam regular water

 

[themartinfamily]

@eighty How much salt do I roughly need?

 

[eighty]

@themartinfamily I just pretty much salt everything and drink by feel. Btw meanwhile you can use straps to put less load on the grip

 

[mac64]

@themartinfamily Absolutely doesn't rule out arthritis.

 

[stickywicket]

@mac64 Yup. Or carpal tunnel. Certainly something to keep an eye on. But, most likely it’s a more benign issue, like proper hydration/electrolyte balance.

 

[oregongirl1]

@themartinfamily Just use straps...

 

[lovein17]

@oregongirl1 I pray you're joking.

 

[oregongirl1]

@lovein17 why?

 

[lovein17]

@oregongirl1 who worth their salt uses straps