I keep cramping after the gym, can you help?

runswithascript

Male, 26.

It doesn't happen every time, maybe 1 in 4 or 5 times, and so far has been after I ate food at work when I finished, and arrived at the gym an hour later.

It was so bad one time that I had to keep stopping on the footpath on the 20 minute walk home to kneel down on my hunkers to take a break, it was very, very painful.

How can I avoid this, maybe wait 1.5 hours after eating before starting?

Beginner routine:

5 minutes on the bike to get my heart rate to 115.

1 min rest

4 x 20: cable pulldown (me kneeled on the floor) (30 sec rest between reps)

1 min rest

4 x 12: bench press (30 sec rest between reps)

1 min rest

4 x however many (few) I can do: tricep pushup (30 sec rest between reps)

1 min rest

4 x 20 (max) swiss ball abdominal crunches/sit ups. I hook my feet under a machine at waist level and let my head and chest go down to the ground. (1 min rest between sets)

1 min rest

Following 2 are done in turn.

3 x 12 incline dumbbell fly (7kg max) (1 min rest between sets)

1 min rest

3 x 20 reverse swiss ball abdominal crunches/sit ups. (1 min rest between sets)

1 min rest

I usually try throw in 1 more set of regular swiss ball abdominal crunches here.

1 min rest

Stairmaster: level 5 2 mins, then level 6 30 seconds, repeated over 20 minutes.

Was advised to try warm down on the cross trainer, but unless I'm going so slow the machine locks up my heart rate just won't go down so I usually just shower.

Usually starts to hit me on the stairmaster.

Oh and the food usually that I eat before hand: 4 slices of McCambridge bread, chicken breast, tomato, cheese, and lettuce.

Mr. Loverman

If I was you I would experiment to see what's causing it.

For example, I would spend a week doing no stomach work at all to see how that goes. (I suspect this is the issue actually).

And then I would experiment with the amount of time I wait between eating and the gym.

What kind of warm up do you do?

runswithascript

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

And then I would experiment with the amount of time I wait between eating and the gym.

I'm really only just getting into it and my stomach is really starting to tighten up so if I experiment I'll cut the crunches out last

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

What kind of warm up do you do?

dusf wrote: »

5 minutes on the bike to get my heart rate to 115.

.

Mr. Loverman

No stretching?

runswithascript

Mr. Loverman wrote: »

No stretching?

Nope, the trainer didn't tell me to stretch? I thought maybe this is because I'm not doing too much as a beginner...

Mr. Loverman

dusf wrote: »

Nope, the trainer didn't tell me to stretch? I thought maybe this is because I'm not doing too much as a beginner...

Everyone's body is different, but I find stretching helps me. It sort of loosens up my muscles and gets them ready for use.

Definitely worth adding 5 - 10 mins of stretching before your work out.

TommyKnocker

Can I ask what exactly you are eating 1 hour before the workout and what is your hydration like throughout the day. Are you keeping well hydrated?


M

The Guvnor

More fluids should help.

runswithascript

B-Builder wrote: »

Can I ask what exactly you are eating 1 hour before the workout and what is your hydration like throughout the day. Are you keeping well hydrated?

The Guvnor wrote: »

More fluids should help.

dusf wrote: »

Oh and the food usually that I eat before hand: 4 slices of McCambridge bread, chicken breast, tomato, cheese, and lettuce.

I guess I could also try drinking more water, especially mindful on the days I go to the gym. What exactly is well hydrated?

I'm weary of doing all three at once, I mean drinking extra water, waiting 1.5 hours and cutting down on crunches because even if that worked I'd then have to decipher which one is what resolved it.

Mr. Loverman

Well just try to remember it's a marathon, not a race. Experiment to see what works best for you. I have spent about 14 years doing that and I learn new things about my body all the time.

Mellor

Why do you get your heart up to 115.

I'm not questioning the need for a warm up, but why that number.
also, the routine looks a little over complicated. You be better off doing less excercises but doing more in each imo. Way too many crunch variations imo too

TommyKnocker

dusf wrote: »

I guess I could also try drinking more water, especially mindful on the days I go to the gym. What exactly is well hydrated?

No expert here, but I guage my hydration levels on the colour of my urine and how frequently I need to pee.

IMHO when my urine is a really pale yellow colour and I am peeing about every 70-80 mins, then I consider myself to be sufficienly hydrated.

If my urine is a noticeable yellow colour and I am peeing less frequently, then I would myself dehydrated.

N.B. Too much vitimin B can give your urine a dark yellow colour, so the frequency would be the indicator in this case.

If my urine is clear and/or I am peeing more frequently then every 70-80 minutes, then I feel I have gone a littel mad on the hydration and cut back a bit.

I would usually taper off the water about 90 mins or so before the gym as I don't want to have to keep running to the loo during my workouts. Then I will consume a drink with amino acids while I workout.

dusf wrote: »

Oh and the food usually that I eat before hand: 4 slices of McCambridge bread, chicken breast, tomato, cheese, and lettuce.

IMHO this is a pretty heavy meal to have 60 minutes before a workout. What time are you working out at? Is the meal above your lunch or have you had a lunch prior to this meal?

Have a look at this thread for information on pre & post workout nutrition.

dusf wrote: »

I'm weary of doing all three at once, I mean drinking extra water, waiting 1.5 hours and cutting down on crunches because even if that worked I'd then have to decipher which one is what resolved it.

You should be sipping water throughout the day, keeping your self hydrated. Not filling up before a trip to the gym.

Your pre workout meal will depend on what time you are training, but IMHO what you are currently eating is much too heavy.

I don't get what all the ab exercises are for. While I agree that core work is important, your routine seems failry fussy, not that well balanced and has quite a lot of ab work, though neglecting your obliques (sides) and lower back. Your core is more than just your 6 pack.

What are your goals and did you put that routine together yourself or was this provided by a trainer in the gym?


M

runswithascript

B-Builder wrote: »

No expert here, but I guage my hydration levels on the colour of my urine and how frequently I need to pee.

IMHO when my urine is a really pale yellow colour and I am peeing about every 70-80 mins, then I consider myself to be sufficienly hydrated.

If my urine is a noticeable yellow colour and I am peeing less frequently, then I would myself dehydrated.

N.B. Too much vitimin B can give your urine a dark yellow colour, so the frequency would be the indicator in this case.

If my urine is clear and/or I am peeing more frequently then every 70-80 minutes, then I feel I have gone a littel mad on the hydration and cut back a bit.

I would usually taper off the water about 90 mins or so before the gym as I don't want to have to keep running to the loo during my workouts. Then I will consume a drink with amino acids while I workout.

Do you know how much you drink on average each day? That said, I'm down from 175lbs to 160lbs since starting at the gym which I'm not sure is entirely good...

B-Builder wrote: »

IMHO this is a pretty heavy meal to have 60 minutes before a workout. What time are you working out at? Is the meal above your lunch or have you had a lunch prior to this meal?

I work part time so I usually go after breakfast which would be a 2 whole egg, 4 white egg omelette with tomatoes, mushrooms, half an onion and a small bit of cheese and seasoning. I arrive at the gym an hour later and have never had the cramp problem post workout going early and after this meal.

When I go to the gym after work it's evening time so I'll have had *chicken breast sandwich lunch about 1/2pm, and then at 4/5pm in the office I'll have the same chicken breast sandwich before heading to the gym an hour or so later. I'll then walk home and when I can sum up the energy cook a dinner.

*same maccambridge bread chicken breast sandwich as described before.

Maybe a supplement like Pro-X or Ultimate All-in-one Formula would suit me because I imagine the shake would digest far easier etc? Also if you read the description of each product they recommend taking both before and after workout, so does that mean it would do for recovery? I know food is the main thing and I'll continue to eat what I am now apart from maybe the sandwich when finishing work, just the shakes seem like they may be convenient for my situation of having to go straight from work, and it taking a good while for me to make dinner after gym etc...

B-Builder wrote: »

Have a look at this thread for information on pre & post workout nutrition.

Will do.

You should be sipping water throughout the day, keeping your self hydrated. Not filling up before a trip to the gym.

Your pre workout meal will depend on what time you are training, but IMHO what you are currently eating is much too heavy.

B-Builder wrote: »

I don't get what all the ab exercises are for. While I agree that core work is important, your routine seems failry fussy, not that well balanced and has quite a lot of ab work, though neglecting your obliques (sides) and lower back. Your core is more than just your 6 pack.

What are your goals and did you put that routine together yourself or was this provided by a trainer in the gym?

I see the trainer who put the programme together next week and then not again for about two weeks. My goals are toning, mass, preparation for boxing which I'd like to start over the next few months, and maybe a marathon at some point in the future. I hate being slim.

Do you have anything I should raise with her you haven't already mentioned? Like "can we work something out that's more balanced including my obliques and lower back but not neglecting my abs as I've seen my 6pack start to appear and I don't want it to go away!"

At my gym you get a free session with a trainer for 30 mins officially every month but my trainer has told me I can come to her every 8 sessions which is every 16 days. That said, she's told me she can only take me so far and I'd then need to book some intense training sessions with a dude who I see in there which would be a few workouts over a week or two weeks etc, if I pay for this I'd like it to just be once only because I don't have much money right now, how much should I expect to pay, and is it a solid investment?

gavtron

Hi OP,

I think you're a bit all over the place with your goals to be honest, sorry to get off topic for a minute. "toning", mass, preparation for boxing and maybe a marathon "sometime in the future" are not all related imho. Fair play for having goals, and good ones too, but you should have ones that are more measurable in the near, medium and long term.

Building mass on it's own is fine but I haven't seen too many marathon runners that have a serious bit of mass on them, most are very skinny (Dean Karnazes excepted, google him!)
Toning, to me anyway, means dropping fat and if you are trying to bulk up then it's (very) hard to do at the same time, to get bigger you need to eat a LOT of food and lift heavy sh!t and if you are eating loads and have a calorie excess then some fat gain is going to occur naturally. If you're a beginner, and I'm taking the liberty of assuming you are, then you could see some good gains in mass and strength pretty quickly provided you are eating right and lifting progressively heavier, in the big lifts. (Deadlift, press, squat etc.)
As for the boxing, I don't have any experience with it at all so can't advise you on training for that.

Your regime looks all over the place as B-Builder said, typical generic program set out in a commercial gym.
Wrt supplements, they are just that, supplementary to your daily intake of proper food. Good if you need a shot of protein and are in a hurry before the gym etc. but I wouldn't have them instead of a dinner.

Finally, back to your original question, swiss ball situps/crunches...I think that's where your cramps are coming from, or at least a big factor in it! Do you feel them in your abs or actually inside your stomach...if you get what I mean? You're doing 80-100 swiss ball crunches and 80 reverse ones is that right? No need for all of them if you ask me!
If you're worried about your obliques I'd add in some russian twists with a med ball or dumbell etc.

Are you making progress with the lifts you are doing? Post up your numbers here. And a full day's diet, with everything in it as well.

Closing points:
* Decide what your goals are
* Read the stickies on Nutrition, Diet, Supplements, in fact all of them
* Google "starting strength" "GOMAD" "strong lifts 5x5" (if that's what you decide you want, even if it's not, it's all good knowledge)
* Go back to your trainer with a clear mind of what you want to do and where you want to be in 1,3,6 months time etc.
* Re-read the stickies
* Sort your diet
* Come back and ask more questions!
* Redefine your goals

Hope that helps a bit!

runswithascript

gavtron wrote: »

I think you're a bit all over the place with your goals to be honest, sorry to get off topic for a minute. "toning", mass, preparation for boxing and maybe a marathon "sometime in the future" are not all related imho. Fair play for having goals, and good ones too, but you should have ones that are more measurable in the near, medium and long term.

Mass and preparation for boxing.

gavtron wrote: »

If you're a beginner, and I'm taking the liberty of assuming you are, then you could see some good gains in mass and strength pretty quickly provided you are eating right and lifting progressively heavier, in the big lifts. (Deadlift, press, squat etc.)

I am a beginner. Not doing any deadlift or squats as yet but will have the trainer add them Thursday when we meet, although I am constantly making gains on the bench which feels great!

gavtron wrote: »

Your regime looks all over the place as B-Builder said, typical generic program set out in a commercial gym.
Wrt supplements, they are just that, supplementary to your daily intake of proper food. Good if you need a shot of protein and are in a hurry before the gym etc. but I wouldn't have them instead of a dinner.

I believe I eat well but will post full diet shortly for input.

gavtron wrote: »

Finally, back to your original question, swiss ball situps/crunches...I think that's where your cramps are coming from, or at least a big factor in it! Do you feel them in your abs or actually inside your stomach...if you get what I mean?

I believe I get the pain inside my stomach but I can't be certain because of the proximity.

gavtron wrote: »

You're doing 80-100 swiss ball crunches and 80 reverse ones is that right? No need for all of them if you ask me!
If you're worried about your obliques I'd add in some russian twists with a med ball or dumbell etc.

Hit 20 on on the first set of the 4 swiss for the first time yesterday. Then managed to do 10 on the 3 following set. I am always able to do the three full sets of 20 reverse afterward though. Will mention russian twists to trainer.

gavtron wrote: »

Are you making progress with the lifts you are doing? Post up your numbers here. And a full day's diet, with everything in it as well.

Will do.

gavtron wrote: »

Closing points:
* Decide what your goals are
* Read the stickies on Nutrition, Diet, Supplements, in fact all of them
* Google "starting strength" "GOMAD" "strong lifts 5x5" (if that's what you decide you want, even if it's not, it's all good knowledge)
* Go back to your trainer with a clear mind of what you want to do and where you want to be in 1,3,6 months time etc.
* Re-read the stickies
* Sort your diet
* Come back and ask more questions!
* Redefine your goals

Hope that helps a bit!

All good advice, it does help a lot, thanks!