How To Prevent Muscle Cramps In Hot Weather

How can I prevent muscle cramps in hot weather?

Cramping in the muscles that happens in hot weather is generally related to a volume depletion situation. In other words, if you are running a marathon and it's very hot, you are losing lots of water, and you're losing minerals out of your body: you're losing sodium, and you're losing potassium. Those imbalances in sodium and potassium, and the loss of fluid in that muscle, can cause cramping. So, when you're exercising in a warm environment, it's important to keep your fluid levels up. Don't get dehydrated. You want to make sure you're replacing all of the water that you may be losing because of the heat and because of the exercise. You also want to make sure that you're drinking water that has mineral replacements in it. You don't want to drink just pure water by itself if you're in an extended exercise program in hot weather. Make sure that the fluid that you have has some sugar in it, or glucose, and has some sodium and potassium in it. Some of the replacement fluids that are available on the market do provide those.