Muscle cramps during prolonged effort are fairly common among runners, especially those covering long distances. They most often affect the calf muscles or thighs. While usually harmless, these sudden, intense, and involuntary contractions are painful and often prevent athletes from reaching their desired performance level.
Discover the electrostimulation program that can help prevent calf cramps: the Capillarisation program.
What Causes Muscle Cramps?
Contrary to popular belief, recent studies suggest that exercise-induced cramps are not primarily caused by heat, electrolyte imbalances, or dehydration. The most likely cause is muscle fatigue.
Cramps typically occur in muscle groups that are repeatedly contracted during the specific activity. Muscles not engaged in the effort are generally not affected by cramps.
Factors that can increase the risk of cramping include:
- Inadequate physical preparation for the required effort
- Very intense exertion
- Sudden changes in exercise intensity
Additionally, having previously experienced exercise-induced cramps appears to be a predictive factor for future occurrences.
The best advice for preventing cramps remains to properly plan your training, arrive physically prepared, and manage your effort intensity throughout the activity.
How to Prevent Cramps with Electrostimulation
Incorporating electrostimulation into your physical preparation can be an effective way to reduce the risk of cramping during runs.
There are two specific EMS programs designed for this purpose:
- Cramps Prevention Program
- Capillarisation Program
These programs, available on most Compex devices, can be valuable preventive tools.
🩸 Capillarisation Program
This program aims to develop the network of small blood vessels (capillaries) that supply oxygen to the muscles most at risk.
By increasing the number of capillaries, muscle oxygenation improves, which helps to:
- Delay fatigue
- Enhance performance
💡 Cramp Prevention Program
This program is especially helpful for preventing night time cramps or post-exercise cramps.
It supports the biochemical exchanges triggered by prolonged efforts, promoting better muscle function and recovery.
How to Perform the Capillarization Program: Prevention of Calf Cramps
The example below concerns the prevention of cramps in the calf muscles, but it can easily be applied to the anterior muscles (quadriceps) or posterior muscles (hamstrings) of the thighs. Simply adjust the treatment area and use the appropriate electrode placement.
✅Program
Capillarisation
🕒Cycle Duration and Session Frequency
- 5 sessions per week for 5 weeks
📍Electrode Placement
(Refer to your device’s electrode placement guide for calf muscles or other target areas.)
🧘Body Position
Seated or lying down in a comfortable position
⚙️Intensity Setting
Goal: Achieve clearly visible muscle twitches while maintaining comfort.
Increase the intensity until you obtain a muscle response that feels like a beat or strong vibration, also called muscle twitches. This muscle activity differs from a true contraction and acts like a pump, which is crucial for causing a significant increase in blood flow to the stimulated muscle.
As you increase intensity, the muscle twitch starts subtly, then becomes more pronounced until it reaches a plateau where the muscle response is maximal. Increasing intensity beyond this plateau does not provide additional benefits.
Using Devices with mi-RANGE Technology
- SP 4.0: A small bracket indicates the optimal intensity zone on the screen. Maintain the intensity within this bracket, ideally at its maximum level.
- Fit 5.0 and SP 6.0: Increase intensity until the message “Optimal intensity level found” appears. If stimulation remains comfortable, you can increase the intensity slightly for stronger twitches.
- SP 8.0: The mi-AUTORANGE function automatically sets the optimal intensity. Once found, “Optimal intensity level found” is displayed. If comfortable, you may increase intensity slightly for more pronounced muscle twitches.
