How Playing Surfaces Can Trigger Muscle Cramps in Athletes

For athletes in every sport, few setbacks are as distressing as having to withdraw from competition because of a sudden muscle cramp. These painful, involuntary spasms - clinically termed exercise-associated muscle cramps - have perplexed athletes, coaches and researchers for many years.

Traditionally, scientists have linked exercise-induced cramps with dehydration or imbalances in electrolytes. Yet that explanation has failed to account for several unanswered questions.

For instance, cramps affect plenty of athletes who are properly hydrated, whereas some competitors remain cramp-free even in hot and humid environments.

An expanding body of evidence is questioning this conventional account and instead identifying the playing surface as an important influence.

As a sports scientist, I investigate the ways in which different factors shape sporting performance. Research by my team indicates that particular features of playing surfaces can cause earlier neuromuscular fatigue and unanticipated muscle cramps.

Muscle cramps and playing surfaces

When muscles become fatigued, the usual balance between nervous-system signals that tell them to contract and relax is disturbed. Muscle spindles, which detect stretching, begin firing more frequently.

At the same time, inhibitory feedback from Golgi tendon organs - nervous-system structures located where muscle fibres meet tendons - decreases.

Put simply, muscles receive conflicting instructions about whether to tighten or loosen. This produces excessive motor-neuron activation, driving muscle fibres into a prolonged and involuntary contraction: a cramp.

Recent research indicates that competing on surfaces with unfamiliar mechanical characteristics, including stiffness and elasticity, may speed up neuromuscular fatigue.

Playing surfaces change the way muscles and joints function mechanically. When an athlete's neuromuscular system has not adapted to those demands, fatigue may develop too soon, creating the circumstances in which cramps occur.

In one study, my colleagues and I recorded a 13 percent variation in muscle activity between runners working on pitches with different levels of stiffness and elasticity. Another study conducted by my team identified a 50 percent difference in hamstring activity when athletes completed the same drills on different turf types.

Beyond sport-specific performance measures, biomechanics studies have long established that changing a playing surface's characteristics alters muscle stiffness, joint loading and range of movement. Each of these factors has a direct effect on fatigue.

Muscles that span more than one joint, such as the hamstrings, seem particularly susceptible to differences between playing surfaces because of their key function in sprinting and changing direction.

Preventing cramps during exercise

If playing surfaces affect fatigue, managing their interaction with players may offer a way to prevent cramps.

Researchers have suggested creating regional databases that document the mechanical properties of competition surfaces in sports such as tennis. Coaches and sporting organisations could use this information to adapt training settings so they resemble match conditions, limiting the disruption caused by unfamiliar surfaces.

Cramps may not result from a surface's inherent qualities alone, but from how closely those qualities match - or differ from - the surfaces an athlete normally encounters.

Take a football team that trains on a soft pitch but plays matches on a firmer one. If the players have not prepared for it, the altered way in which their muscles must work could bring on early fatigue and cramps during competition.

Including drills that reproduce the muscle activation required on competition turf could enable the team to prepare more effectively for match conditions.

Likewise, a basketball side used to new hardwood flooring may gain from training on worn or cushioned courts that imitate forthcoming away venues.

Systematic exposure is crucial. Training on surfaces that mirror competitive requirements helps the neuromuscular system adapt, reducing the likelihood of fatigue and potentially lowering cramp risk.

Toward a holistic approach to cramps

Hydration and nutrition are still vital to performance. However, considering conditioning, footwear traction and adaptation to varied playing surfaces could help sports medicine develop a more comprehensive response to exercise-associated muscle cramps.

As research and technology continue to advance, cramps may cease to be an unavoidable and frustrating part of sport. Athletes and coaches could instead anticipate them, modify training around surface demands and act before cramps disrupt performance.

Real-time monitoring may represent the future of cramp prevention.

Developments involving wearable biosensors that identify neuromuscular fatigue, surface-testing equipment and machine learning could help forecast an individual's cramp risk. Coaches could then alter training plans, make substitutions during games or, where feasible, adjust surface conditions.

By preparing athletes more thoroughly for the mechanical demands of competition surfaces, teams may safeguard players' health and keep their leading performers available when the outcome is in the balance.

Michael Hales, Associate Professor of Health Promotion and Physical Education, Kennesaw State University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. Read the original article.