How to treat cramps in the abdominal muscles while running?
As a rule, this happens during a faster run or during a race. Unbearable prickly pain in some part of the abdomen. Either it can be in the hypochondrium or in the middle part of the abdomen, most often in its upper part or around the navel. Pain comes from the abdominal muscles. You feel them being withdrawn and not being released. Even breathing itself hurts. You try to breathe it out or knock it out, but nothing helps.
What causes this pain and why does it regularly bother you?
We told ourselves that the pain stems from the contracted superficial abdominal muscles. Most often these are oblique abdominal muscles or a direct abdominal muscle. The classic stinging in the side probably has a different origin. Rather, it is a contraction of a certain part of the diaphragm. There are also theories that the stinging in the side comes from the shells of internal organs (liver or spleen), which do not manage to respond to the rapidly increasing load. But that’s another question, and we’re going to deal with cramps in the abdominal muscles. Further, abdominal cramp can be caused by the load of accelerated peristalsis, but you will soon know the origin of this pain, so there will be no talk about it either.
Why does this spasm of the abdominal muscles arise?
It is not a spasm originating from a mineral imbalance, such is usually on the muscles of the lower extremities, in which the metabolism is highest during the course. This pain arises from the suboptimal involvement of the muscles of the trunk and diaphragm and the suboptimal breathing stereotype. The muscles of the trunk should work so-called eccentrically, that is, in stretching. The opposite of such work is concentric contraction, that is, pulling inward.
If you’re running faster than your comfort zone and you have to exhale hard to breathe in as soon as possible, you’re just pulling your belly in, concentrically. On inhalation, the muscles should stretch, but if the muscles are permanently contracted and the diaphragm does not work fully, the muscles do not stretch even on inhalation. Thus, they remain still concentrically withdrawn. The more we withdraw them in this way, the sooner we will get to the spasm. And since we always have a certain asymmetry, the sheaves on one side are always pulled down more than on the other. Those who work more will be prone to cramps earlier.
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But it also depends on the position of the spine. If you are hunched in the thoracic spine, you have a pulled upper abdomen. This position of the spine alone prevents the front part of the diaphragm from breathing and the possibility for the abdominal muscles to stretch when inhaling. On the contrary, with exhalation, you pull the upper part of the abdominal muscles inside. Then there is a pain in the middle under the breast bone.
If you “squeeze” at the waist while running, i.e. you rotate your shoulders a lot towards the pelvis, the oblique abdominal muscles will be contracted again, so you will get the spasm rather to the side.
The situation will be even worse if you suffer from allergies or asthma. In this case, the airways are narrowed and resist exhalation. This resistance must be overcome by greater work of the exhalation muscles, where the abdominal muscles belong. It can happen even if you are taking allergy medication, or you have only a very mild allergy, in fact, you do not even know about it, but under stress in nature, the airways swell and this causes resistance to exhalation.
What to do?
We have already discussed how the muscles of the trunk (a complex of abdominal muscles, diaphragm and back muscles) should be in the article Center of the body, core, get acquainted! Can we really engage him?
A FEW TIPS TO GET RID OF PAIN
• Two days before the race, do not strengthen the abdominal muscles, do not do would-be exercises on the center of the body (plank, etc.).
• Learn to breathe into your abdomen while running slowly, and try it gradually while running fast.
• Do not increase the load too much, or if it is a race, go rather slower and accelerate as the end approaches (there is nothing worse than going fast and creating a cramp, with which you will then run the whole race, albeit slower).
• If you get a cramp in the abdomen, it pays to stop for a while, lean forward and push intensively into the painful place and massage it, at the same time try to breathe through the abdomen, there is hope that this procedure will completely get rid of the pain.
• Do not underestimate allergies or asthma and rather take medication for them at least in connection with the load, because it is possible that you are otherwise unconsciously changing your breathing stereotype and muscle tension in the chest and abdomen.
We are preparing this series for you in cooperation with Sport.cz.
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Dagmar Lisá