Sport Muscle spasms - nutrition related?

Sport Fitness
J

Jessica M

0
Hey guys,

Well, after several months of successful workouts and good nutrition, I've hit a wall. But not the classic weight-loss plateau.

For the last three months I have been having one CRIPPLING muscle spasm either in my lower back or neck. They generally put me out of commission (read: in BED flat on my back) for two days, with localized pain for about a week afterwards. Long story short, because of this I have been to the gym about 10 times in the last three months! I can't seem to find anything on the web that says that these muscle spasms are nutrition-related, but mostly that they are just related to stress and tiredness... I guess I have been working more than usual.

The only nutritional change I've made is that I stopped drinking protein shakes (only because I simply couldn't afford it this month). The only training change is longer running times (a circuit that involves 5 minutes of running each time instead of 2).

The doctor says stress. The osteopath says ovulation (the spasms come at the same time every month) and stress.

Without listing my entire diet on here, I will say that generally I feel I eat well and appropriately to my height and weight and activity level. I'm heavy on complex carbs and veggies, low on fat, zero on meat (vegetarian) and eat fish from time to time as a protein source.

Opinions? They'd be greatly appreciated... I'm getting frustrated and de-motivated.

Thanks! :cool:
 
From what I have heard, muscle spasms are more likely to occur when one has a magnesium deficiency. Good sources include spinach, salad greens (e.g. chard), pumpkin seeds, beans, salmon, halibut, soybeans, and sesame seeds. I had some back muscle spasms last summer that were quite annoying if not painful. However, I don't typically get spasms. They seemed to go away on their own. I did consume some magnesium-rich foods after the spasms occurred. However, I typically eat plenty of magnesium-rich foods so I'm not so sure that my spasms were necessarily the result of a lack of magnesium. So, you can take that for what you will. But if you aren't getting enough magnesium in your diet already, I suggest getting more into your diet.
 
muscle spasms

I have been suffering from muscle spasms for about year now. My first one occurred after a rowing injury- bending over incorrectly to pick up the boat. Now something as simple as bending over can trigger a spasm. I eat flax seed every day and take fish oil supplements--while I agree these are healthy, I am not sure how well they prevent a muscle spasm.

I am currently in treatment with a chiropractor and I am going to start some physical therapy. The literature seems to say that chiro can be good for relieving pain but PT will help strengthen muscles. Learning proper posture is also important. And I am sure you have heard that bed rest is the worst thing you can do, although I completely understand that when muscle spasm is really bad being in bed is the only thing that gives relief.

I had x-rays and my chiro told me I have degenerative disc disease. I would suggest that you get a thorough assessment, maybe by a physiotherapist who specializes in the McKenzie method.
 
that was my first thought is are you taking a muti-vitamin and EFA's? and seems your taking EFA's just fine, after that we look at electrolites, which are in mutli-vitamins a lack of this can cause this. after that lack of water but not really this type of spams are caused by this so thats out. after that it's possable your never getting thoes nutrients and id look into things like tape worms and other parasites.
nutrition asside we have the nervs could be from stress or inbalanced hormone levels, a nerve disease of some kind.. like pressue on the nerves can cause spams maby the disc disease. at this forum we can help with the nutrition part but the rest is with real doctors, i suggest seeing more than one and get different opinions. GL
excuse the spelling errors :)
 
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