What Causes An Athlete to Have Fatigue and Cramp?

Every part of the human body is surrounded by muscles. The number of muscles in a human body is approximately 640.

Cramp, on the other hand, is the involuntary and painful contraction of one or more muscles that contract and relax countless times during the day,  as a whole or a part of the muscle. It is most commonly found in the feet and calves in body parts. The cause of cramps that occur mostly at night can be very diverse. The most common groups are the elderly, pregnant women, and people with deficiencies of minerals and vitamins that make up the body mechanism. Among the causes of cramp; The two most common causes are cold and fatigue. 

- Water to maintain circulation and help remove lactic acid and other wastes from the muscles
- Low-fat dairy products for calcium to regulate muscle contractions
- Potassium-rich, such as bananas, citrus, dried fruit, tomato juice, melon, pumpkin, potatoes, milk, and avocado foods
- Carbohydrates such as rice, legumes and pastries
for energy 
consumption of whole grain bread for B vitamins -
Caffeine in coffee, tea and cola which will reduce circulation to the muscles
- Very salty foods that can cause fluid retention
Living things meet the chemical energy required for intracellular biochemical reactions from 

ATP.
ATP can be synthesized in various ways.
Under anaerobic conditions, it happens by fermentation.
 
There are two main sources of fatigue;
The first occurs in the muscles. The reasons for its occurrence are;
1. The glycogen available in the muscles is completely consumed,
2. The lactic acid level rises as a result of the continuous, non-stop exercise of certain muscle groups. These are muscle fatigue. I have shared my extensive study of Lactic Acid with you before.
 
The second source of fatigue is the brain.
In long-term sports activities (training or competition), glycogen stocks stored as carbohydrates in the muscles are discharged. The amount of glycogen begins to decrease, and therefore the fatty acid in the blood causes the tryptophan substance in the blood to rush to the brain. For this reason; In order to save time in bicycle races, we witnessed that athletes who did not take supplements in the feeding zone hit the wall. The same is true for runners. And every athlete who is faced with the feeling of extreme fatigue due to the depletion of glycogen, which is called hitting the wall, knows that there is no going back once it starts. One of the important reasons for taking carbohydrate supplements in the race before reaching this stage is to prevent the depletion of glycogen and tryptophan not to rush into the brain, that is, not to hit the wall. Tryptophan'

You may have heard of comparisons of athletes who received water and carbohydrate drinks in scientific group experiments. In the cycling training of two athletes at the same level; Although the athlete who takes a carbohydrate drink is tired after 45 minutes compared to the athlete who drinks water, the effective role of carbohydrates in delaying the feeling of fatigue is emphasized. In addition, in the exercise test values ​​that are stopped at the same time, the laboratory results are also dependent on the assays; It was concluded that the fatty acid values ​​and trytophan values ​​of the athletes who drank water were 5 times the normal, while the fatty acid and trytophan values ​​of the athletes who took carbohydrate liquid were much lower. The presence of glucose in the body, equivalent to the enzymatic rate of liquid carbohydrate, prevents the trytophan enzyme from going to the brain at a high rate. 

It is caused by the muscles trying to protect themselves with sudden contractions, due to the slowing of blood circulation in cold environments and periods when the human body is tired, due to insufficient oxygen and sugar needed for the muscles to work. Exercises done excessively during the day, fatigue of the muscles as a result of overload, excessive water loss, staying in the same position for a long time and excessive fatigue are among these reasons. Contractions in the cramped area may last for several minutes. In the meantime, massage or stretching exercises help to prevent contractions or shorten the duration of contractions. Procedures such as pinching the contracted area during the cramp and sticking a needle in the area to soften the contraction are not approved by experts as they can be harmful.

In order to get rid of cramps that occur during the day or at night, we must first pay attention to our diet. 

Increasing the consumption of potassium in our nutritional meals will be useful in preventing cramps caused by potassium and magnesium deficiency. In this, we need to consume plenty of foods that are high in potassium. In the prevention of cramps, we need to increase the consumption of some foods while decreasing some of them. Since excessive consumption of caffeine, nicotine and alcohol are among the factors that cause the increase of cramps, minimizing their consumption can reduce the frequency of cramps. Except for cramps due to deficiencies in blood values, Exercises to strengthen the leg muscles are among the factors that can prevent the occurrence of these cramps, in order to minimize the cramps caused by the slowing of blood circulation of people working at a desk or at bed rest. Frequent recurring cramps may be a sign of another disease or a simple vitamin deficiency.

To Prevent Sudden Muscle Contractions;

- Fortified whole grain cereals and complex for iron needed for energy conversion - Increase

- We should also reduce factors such as smoking, which prevent the blood part in the muscles.

Under aerobic conditions, ATP synthesis takes place in mitochondria via oxidative phosphorylation.

The athlete is not a machine after all and of course it is inevitable to feel tired from time to time. In fact, the feeling of tiredness is when your body says, "That's enough." It's a way of saying it. We all know this already. But what is the threshold of this fatigue, what is the effect, is it possible to delay the feeling of fatigue? In particular, if you feel more tired than normal at times, it would be appropriate to dwell on the reasons for this.

The remedy to miss the fatigue that arises from the biochemical formations in the brain is to prevent the influx of tryptphan into the brain. If it is; It is possible to take carbohydrates (such as sports drinks) during and just before studies or races. It is useful to remember that the time to eat dietary carbohydrates should be taken 2 hours before the activity, as it may be just before the intake of liquid carbohydrates. Since the muscles will use this carbohydrate as an energy source, the fat cells keep the fatty acid formation at a low level, and therefore the tryptophan in the blood goes to the brain at a low level.