Why are we cramping so much?

Submitted by M Ascending on

It seems to me -- and correct me if I'm wrong -- that our guys are cramping up at a far greater rate than in past years, and certainly more frequently than the opponents over the first three games.  Why is this happening?

Is it possibly the result of our new S&C coach's program and methods?  Having viewed the before and after photos of some our players, it's pretty clear that Herbert is focusing on the "strength" part of his responsibilities.  But, what about "conditioning"?  Is it possible that because our players are bulking up more they are more susceptible to cramping (as well as muscle strains)?  Are they being fully hydrated before and during the game?

I have no evidence for any of this, but if one is looking for an explanation for this phenomenon, the S&C program is a logical place to start.  Hopefully, once the weather cools down, this will cease to be a problem.

 

Inflammable Flame

September 18th, 2018 at 11:44 AM ^

Sorry to hi-jack your post, but dew point would have more to do with it then humidity. Humidity is relative to that specific temperature. Dew point is the temp which the air is completely saturated.  50% humidity at 70° is not the same as 50% humidity at 80°, etc.

 

Easy scale to remember: 

50-59 dew point is comfortable

60-69 dew point is sticky

70+ is oppressively miserable

 

This is why you get more fog in spring and fall due to night temperature changes that come close to the dew point, creates fog because the air is near 100% saturated at that temp,  morning temps rise away from dew point and fog clears out. 

 

For the football games, if the air is saturated (higher dew point) then their sweat won't evaporate as effectively, which causes rise in body temps. But sweat isn't just water (as you know) so this is where electrolytes come into play.

TL;DR Cramping=multifactorial

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mGrowOld

September 18th, 2018 at 9:17 AM ^

Rise & Fall of the Strength and Conditioning coach at any Big 5 football program:

Part I - New S & C coach is announced to much fanfare and ado.  Team and fanbase proclaim that the new S & C coach's amazing new methods will yield even more amazing results on the field.  Entire team is quoted as saying "we've never been this strong, this fast, this agile before.  His new methods are nothing short of revolutionary!!!!"

Part II - Players cramp up during game.  Some get injured.  Games are played where the the team of the new S & C coach gets pushed around a bit on the field.  People start to question these amazing new methods.

Part III - Nothing changes on the field for the team itself.  Players stay, relatively speaking, as strong or weak compared to their team mates and opposition as they were before the amazing new S & C coach was hired.  Team's win/loss record is what it is and the S & C coach's impact is minimal at best.

Part IV - Head coach fires S & C coach and replaces him with someone even more amazing and revolutionary.  Team and fanbase proclaim that the new S & C coach's even more amazing new methods will yield even more amazing results on the field.  Entire team is quoted as saying "we've never ever, EVER been this strong, this fast, this agile before.  His new methods are nothing short of revolutionary!!!!"

Rise, repeat.

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markp

September 18th, 2018 at 9:24 AM ^

Like others have said, there's only so much you can do while playing football when temperature and humidity are high. Sweat is less effective at cooling muscles in high humidity because it does not evaporate as quickly into the surrounding air. Proper hydration helps, but I don't think there's a silver bullet.

Honestly, I think the primary reason this post exists is because one of the affected players happened to be our starting QB at a critical moment while playing a rival. If Shea doesn't have to leave during ND, this feels a lot less lopsided.

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freelion

September 18th, 2018 at 9:31 AM ^

It's that time of the month.  Need some Midol.  We also have that not so fresh feeling if you know what I mean.

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jblaze

September 18th, 2018 at 9:40 AM ^

I was watching the OSU TCU game on Saturday and a bunch of OSU players were also cramping.

Without stats showing that Michigan is cramping significantly more than other teams, my guess it's just because we all watch Michigan games so closely and notice it more.

Also, it's been super humid this season (I'm in the NE and it's been 80%+ every single day since Aug 1)

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DonAZ

September 18th, 2018 at 9:47 AM ^

I'm in the NE and it's been 80%+ every single day since Aug 1

I'm in central WV and it's been the wettest summer any of the old-timers here can remember.  Rain almost every day since May.  A few days here or there without ... and the farmers were working until dark to get hay up.  

I'd love to hear from a meteorologist what seasonal weather pattern shifted this year to bring so much moisture, both here in WV and for y'all up in the NE.  It seems the weather map shows a line of rain from Tennessee up through WV, PA, and NY almost every day.  Jet stream?  Mgoweather?

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MGoCultist

September 18th, 2018 at 10:06 AM ^

Discussed in previous thread but the literature does not support the dehydration and electrolyte depletion hypotheses for exercise associated muscle cramps (EAMC). There is no pathophysiological connection. For full text links to references, please see other thread.

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Steves_Wolverines

September 18th, 2018 at 10:10 AM ^

It's prevalent all over college football right now. I put the blame on both the staff/trainers/etc on the sidelines, and the players.

 

If I can run 50+ miles with over 15,000' of climbing in hot and humid Hawaii without cramping, then an elite athlete in college should be able to go 3 hours without cramping. 

 

It could be a combination of stubborn players not thinking they need proper hydration/fuel on gameday. If they only have water and gatorade on the sideline, then that's a huge mistake by the staff. I hope they have better options available on the sideline (electrolyte options like tailwind, skratch labs, nuun, EFS, Clif, etc).

 

Or it could be a a problem with how they trained in the offseason. If they only focused on strength training, then yeah they're going to be more susceptible to cramping.

 

Basically, blaming the weather is a garbage excuse. It's overlooking the root of the problem. 

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BlueinLansing

September 18th, 2018 at 10:17 AM ^

We've played two of the hottest games I can remember even for early September in the last 20+ years.   

 

South Bend was stifling, tropical humidity hot, it literally rained for 10 hours straight about 40 miles north of South Bend it was so humid.

Saturday snuck up on us, I dont' think it was supposed to be high 80's like it was.

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BornInA2

September 18th, 2018 at 10:34 AM ^

My non-scientific observation is that players are cramping more than last year and more than the players on the other team.

I have a hiking/climbing buddy who has been a gym-rat for decades- strong dude. But the first couple years we hiked together he got cramps nearly every trip. We tend to do full-day hikes after work and weekend hikes in a day; we move fast and don't take breaks.

He was strong from gym reps, but his muscles weren't conditioned for endurance...hours on the move. Once he rolled some hiking/trail running into his routine the issue faded.

So my armchair take is that there is too much weight lifting and not enough endurance training. Those "rocked up" photos are great for instagram, but if the rocks tie themselves in knots during the games it doesn't help a lick.

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FL_Steve

September 18th, 2018 at 12:01 PM ^

anyone? anyone? Because muscle is mostly water and, Anyone? Anyone? when you add more muscle you need more water to sustain the same level of cell health. I'll take the cramping, I don't want to see potential tears. What's Evan's status?...

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UofM626

September 18th, 2018 at 12:25 PM ^

I don’t know this to be true but I know one program who has a new S&C this year (Not Michigan) and the players that I know say this new coach has smelling salt and Caffeine Pills available like candy, and the other coaching staff never let them use them and monitored the smelling salt and never had caffeine pills. This is a PAC 12 school by the way. 

This year they have them and they too are cramping up like crazy, don’t know if it’s the same thing but it could be.

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Synful

September 18th, 2018 at 12:56 PM ^

Pretty sure the cramping was due to the conditions, not the conditioning.  Figure these guys are out there in pads and layers of clothing on a very warm and very humid day playing on what is in essence a big tire.  All of that is going to sap any fluids and cause cramping if they're not staying super-hydrated on the sidelines.  I don't think we'll see that when we get to October.  If you watched the ASU-MSU game they were cramping up all over the place.  It really does come down to the conditions.

Where I'm not entirely pleased with the S&C is that while they've added some 'S', they've lost at least a quarter-step on their speed which is dangerous to do.

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CompleteLunacy

September 18th, 2018 at 2:37 PM ^

Because it's humid as hell? ND cramped up too in that first week. As for SMU, our defense was on the field for a looooooong time in the 2nd half, and our offense responded by annoyingly scoring very quickly, so I think it's just one of those things man. I'm not worried about it.

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