Early season football cramps a concern for athletic trainers

The high school football season is underway, and with it, comes cramping.

Week one served as a painful reminder for many players.

Cramping is a real issue in the first part of the season.

"You can drink as much water as you want and you may still cramp if you’re not in good enough condition," said Crystal Cjar, Lincoln Southwest Head Athletic Trainer.

We’ve all seen it before. A player goes down in need of medical assistance.

The culprit? Leg cramps.

Although players have endured weeks of conditioning and scrimmages, playing in the first game is typically their first extended game action.

Often times, the first few games are the ones where cramps can take over.

"We talk to our teams about how hydration doesn’t start on Friday nights or Friday morning. It starts all week," said Cjar.

Crystal Cjar preaches nutrition and hydration to the Lincoln southwest football team during game weeks.

Players are advised to fuel up before the game and sometimes, even at half time.

"We use pickle juice. The acidic acid in pickle juice helps to feed those muscles, that’s one of the break downs of muscles is that part so we will do pickle juice before the game and at halftime," said Cjar.

Many trainers say preseason and summer conditioning, like running, are two areas that could use some improvement to get players ready for the season.

A player can be properly hydrated and eating well, but your muscles still need to be able to handle the rigor of a full game.

"Until we get into mid season conditioning form, I think this is something that you are just going to see on a Friday night initially, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that those players aren’t hydrated," said Cjar.

Another factor at play is early season weather. With forecasts in the 90s for this Friday,  the added heat puts even more pressure on muscles.

"Really, if we are cramping after week 3 or week 4, then we gotta look at what is going on," said Cjar.