Does this mean anything? I heard it could be dehydration, but not sure about that one.
I was doing a sets of seated calf raises after my deadlifts today. 10-15 reps per set, pausing at the bottom, and fast concentric. Then i started to feel the cramping coming on, and had to stop.
I had this same problem with abs when i did the Defranco ab circuit the first few times but that subsided eventually.
Is there anything I need to do to prevent them or will they not happen as i get better?
I can cramp almost any muscle by flexing it, I think thats pretty normal. Happens every once in awhile just like you get cramps when you run, not sure how to avoid it. You could try not to tighten your muscles so long during your reps possibly, you might be flexing a tad too much and long.
If it starts cramping randomly outside the gym, usually you can solve it by either sodium, potassium or water. People generally have enough sodium in their diet but not enough potassium so it comes down to increasing potassium and water intake. Eat 2-3 bananas per day for potassium and drink more water than you usually do (force yourself). This should solve the problem almost immediately. I would keep at least one banana per day in the long term to avoid the situation. This has worked for me when I had random cramps. If it’s only during exercise it might help, but you might also have to decrease the intensity. Try it anyways.
I would think it’s a problem of your muscles being tight overall. According to your profile, you are a student so most likely you’re seated for a good portion of the day. This is going to tighten up your posterior chain. I used to have a problem with my calves cramping up all the time. Basically I ended up stretching my posterior chain a few times everyday. I also started rolling a tennis ball on the bottom of my feet for about 60 seconds (got it from a T-Nation article) which loosens up the fascia on the bottom of your feet. Surprisingly this has done a lot to loosen up my calves and ultimately my posterior chain.
Thanks guys for the info, i’ll start stretching it out and see if that helps in the next week or so. Otherwise i’ll add the foam rollling and some bananas.
or just keep working out, as your calves get stronger it won’t cramp with such a pitiful weight