While exercising can be a pain, it’s not supposed to be too painful. Cramps and sore muscles are a common side effect of working out, but they become more than a minor nuisance when the pain won’t go away. Dealing with constant muscle spasms and flare-ups before, during or even after you exercise can affect the quality of your workout — and the quality of your sleep. If you’re looking for tips on how to get rid of leg cramps, we’ve rounded up six common remedies you can try at home.
Most leg cramps come from tight muscles or sore joints, and while properly stretching before and after you exercise can cut down on the severity of your cramps, sometimes it helps to go a step further and obliterate the problem before it even starts.
Whether you’re looking to feel more comfortable during your workout or are looking for ways to reduce muscle soreness and get more sleep, there are plenty of simple tips you can incorporate into your everyday routine that may, hopefully, reduce some of the pain.
Keep reading to learn how to get rid of leg cramps.
1. Put on Compression Sleeves to Get a Better Night’s Sleep
Designed to help relieve those nagging cramps while you sleep, these sleeper sleeves are made from 95% nylon and 5% spandex, which gives them the perfect combination of elasticity and support to help your calves feel more contained. If your restless leg is keeping you up at night, these sleeves are an easy and safe solution to relieve cramping and help you catch more Zzz’s. As an added bonus, you can also wrap them around your arms if you’re suffering from arm cramps too.
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2. Add More Magnesium to Your Diet
One of the most common causes of leg cramps and restless leg syndrome is the lack of magnesium in people’s diet, and while upping your magnesium intake might not be a one-size-fits-all solution, it’s definitely something to look into. This highly potent supplement is made with 500 mg of pure magnesium for maximum absorption. Used to help promote relaxation and improve your overall sleep, these capsules contain zero preservatives or added binders.
3. If You’re Worried About Swallowing Pills, Try an Oil Spray
Pills can sometimes be a hassle, so if you’re looking to up your magnesium intake and aren’t into ingesting something, this oil spray is a nice alternative. Made with USP-grade magnesium (which is the highest grade possible), this spray may be able to help relieve leg pain, ease stress and improve your quality of sleep. Pretty impressive, right? As magnesium is an absorbent vitamin, you can get your entire daily dosage just by rubbing a little oil on your skin.
4. Try Taking the Homeopathic Route
Whether you’re dealing with constant cramps or are grinning and bearing your way through those occasional flare-ups, these homeopathic natural active ingredients are both gentle and effective. Designed to dissolve quickly, they’re meant to relax your calf and foot muscles, thus preventing leg and feet cramps. If you’re just looking for natural solutions, Hyland’s is a good place to start.
If you’re suffering from Charley horses or post-workout leg cramps but want to avoid Aspirin, Acetaminophen, or Ibuprofen, this is a great natural alternative. Hyland’s contains natural ingredients like Quinine Bark.
5. Use a Calming Cream to Help Reduce Painful Cramps
Made with lavender, chamomile and ylang-ylang, this soothing cream is formulated to help reduce leg cramps by supporting overall circulation. Unlike other precautionary measures, this cream is meant to be used directly whenever discomfort occurs, thereby negating the effects of workout-related cramps, as well as RLS and Charley horses by relaxing your tired muscles. As an added bonus, these creams are never tested on animals. Plus, they’re all manufactured in the USA.
6. Keep a Few Bottles of Foam Spray By Your Bed
A trusted solution for years, rubbing a bit of Theraworx Relief Foam Spray onto your sore spots once or twice a day may help lessen the effects of those leg pains — or help prevent them altogether. From occasional cramps to painful spasms, keeping a bottle or two by your bedside is a must. Sold in packs of three and made with magnesium sulfate, grapefruit extract, aloe and vitamin E, each bottle offers enough foam to help keep your legs calm for months. There’s a reason this foam has such a high rating on Amazon.
7. Stay Hydrated Throughout the Day
If you’re suffering from regular post-workout or nighttime leg cramps, then poor hydration may be to blame. Your muscles need lots of water, and when you start exercising more than usual, you need to increase your water intake accordingly. However, flooding your body with water right before and after a workout isn’t the way to do it.
Instead, carry a water bottle throughout the day and hydrate regularly. We like this double-wall stainless steel water bottle from Hydro Cell, which will keep your water cold all day long.
8. Try a Heating Pad
Are you still waking up in the middle of the night with painful Charley horses? Are your leg cramps persisting? Then perhaps it’s time to try a heating pad. Applying heat to sore muscles is one of the oldest remedies for leg cramps. If you want to learn how to get rid of leg cramps, then you should always have a few heating pads on hand. For this purpose, ThermaCare heating wraps are cheap, long-lasting and easy to apply to any area of your body. Simply apply them to the affected area and let the heat soothe your sore and cramped muscles.