Cramps during squats?

[gerard1]

Anyone else ever get their muscles cramping badly when doing squats?

Also, where should you feel most of the burn? How far down is the proper amount? Should your upper leg break 90 degrees on the way down?
thx!

 

[rottenroguelacy]

how much water are you drinking before and during lifting that can cause ya to cramp.Maybe you need to stretch more before lifting

 

[Freddy]

What kind of athlete are you? For most purposes, you should be squatting well below parallel.

 

[treeistheman2]

drink plenty of water,more if you are useing creatine. stretch before and after.also if you are not powerlifting ( competing) go to just parallel.also a warm shower, or hot-tub will work. you might have to use some potasium sup. i get cramps sometimes in my calfs that will wake you up screaming. it is a complete bitch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ScienceGuy]

The Cure

I have found the root of your problem is the dietary lack of magnesium in the western diet, and the b.s. form of magnesium used in most supplements/vitamins. Magnesium allows muscles to relax and stop contracting. I use Nature's Plus Dyno-Mins Magnesium from Vitaminshoppe.com. It's about 15 bucks for a 3 month supply delivered. It is composed of highly absorbable magnesium. I can realy feel the difference in muscle tension and cramping. My training partner was cramping during squats, and is now cured. Good luck.

 

[gerard1]

thx for the replies.
I'm attributing it mostly to the fact that I am new to squats and probably stressing the muscles in a very different way they are used to. I am dieting, but I'm not so sure I want to blame it on that.
When my legs stop hurting....I plan to start again at a lower weight, do light sets for a while. I have a bad habit of going as heavy as possible too soon I think.
I was doing the full range of motion, past 90, to make sure I didn't just work the quads..