The fancy name is Nocturnal Gastrocnemius Hyperactivity, but it still hurts!

2 nights ago I was awakened by an excruciating cramp in my left calf muscle, i.e. a nocturnal Gastrocnemius cramp.  While my muscle relaxed after a few minutes, it has been sore until this afternoon with some response to stretching.  I haven't worked out since before the cramp-I have been active, walked around and worked in my garage but haven't "loaded up" the calf muscle.  What happened, and how can I keep it from happening again?

First, I have begun lifting again, and while the weights aren't very heavy, I have worked at both full range of motion and pushing from my heels for all the lifts like squats, deadlifts and overhead presses.  I also have tried to walk more.  On top of this activity, my diet this past week hasn't been very good (breakfast the best meal of the day but a few trips to fast food places for the standard fast food meal as well).  To top it off, I donated 1 trillion platelets earlier that day, and this was my third donation in four weeks.  I'm guessing I dehydrated a little bit, ran my body down a bit more than I thought, and got my foot in an odd position.  Viola, massive cramp, waking up in pain and another reminder I'm getting older and vulnerable to maladies that used to be purely academic.  I'd read about them in training literature but not identify with them.  Not anymore!

So I googled "Nocturnal calf cramps."  Some websites offer info all over the place-of course potassium is important, as is magnesium and drinking lots of water.  Some discuss supplements and even one talks about using a small bar/hotel bar of soap.  I'm not really sure how that works and am not in a hurry to try that.  But the standard advice should work as it should-plenty of water, whole foods, vitamin and mineral balance.  I probably messed some or all of that up and am paying the price.

As always, unless you have specific dietary needs, eat it as close to how God made it as possible, and when things change-high stress levels, illness, blood or blood product donations-make sure you focus on a good diet and plenty of water.