{"id":1296,"date":"2014-08-02T10:55:09","date_gmt":"2014-08-02T10:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?p=1296"},"modified":"2014-08-02T10:55:09","modified_gmt":"2014-08-02T10:55:09","slug":"how-to-deal-with-cramps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?p=1296","title":{"rendered":"How to deal with cramps"},"content":{"rendered":"

Quite often in class people tell me that they have got cramp, usually in their feet or legs. It’s a common Pilates issue but one that can be avoided or worked on.<\/p>\n

Cramps in your feet can be due to:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Dehydration. I find myself that if I have not drunk enough water before class I can get cramp. Make sure you stay well dehydrated and see if it makes a difference.<\/p>\n

2. Your foot muscles are out of shape and are fatiguing. If you are not used to Pilates style exercises they can be hard work for your legs and feet. These exercises often work eccentrically, they focus on lengthening the muscles which cna lead to more cramping than concentric exercises that focus on shortening muscles.<\/p>\n

3. Overly pointing and flexing the feet or pointing too much through your toes. When you point try not to fous on the toes but move through the ankle instead. Sound odd? Give it a go. Practise pointing and flexing in this way when sat at home.<\/p>\n

4. Weak arches or fallen arches. Wearing high heels and standing for long periods of time can exacerbate this issue. Walking barefoot is great for strengthening your feet. Also you can do some simple foot strengthening exercises, these are described below.<\/p>\n

Foot Strengthening Exercises:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Tennis Ball exercise: <\/strong>Stand with your foot over a tennis ball or spikey ball. Drape your toes over towards the floor and push your weight down through your foot. Repeat with the ball further back towards your heel.<\/p>\n

\"Pilates<\/a><\/p>\n

Cherry Picking:<\/strong> Lie on your back in neutral with one leg up in the air, foot flexed towards the ceiling. Point the foot, now scrunch up the toes as if picking up a pen with them. Keep them scrunched for as long as possible whilst you draw the foot back to flexed. If you are pregnant try this one seated on the floor or on a chair\/ball.<\/p>\n

\"Pilates<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Quite often in class people tell me that they have got cramp, usually in their feet or legs. It’s a …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,6,10],"tags":[570,569,567,562,563,560,175,153,564,368,223,565,566,561,568],"class_list":["post-1296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-classes","category-exercises","category-studio-news","tag-dehydration-and-cramp","tag-fallen-arches-exercises","tag-foot-strengthening-exercises","tag-how-to-stop-cramp","tag-how-to-stop-cramping","tag-pilates-and-cramps","tag-pilates-hampshire","tag-pilates-southampton","tag-preventing-foot-cramp","tag-priya-pilates","tag-priya-tew","tag-stop-cramp-in-pilates","tag-tennis-ball-pilates","tag-toe-cramp","tag-weak-arches-exercises"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3FIsx-kU","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1353,"url":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?p=1353","url_meta":{"origin":1296,"position":0},"title":"Take a look at your feet.","author":"Priya Tew","date":"23 September, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Your feet are complex things. There are 26 bones, 20 muscles and 33 joints in each foot. Yet we often neglect them and I'm not talking about painting your nails ;) Our weight is carried through our feet, so really we need to turn our thinking upside down and put\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Back pain"","block_context":{"text":"Back pain","link":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?cat=4"},"img":{"alt_text":"photo 1-1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/photo-1-1-300x224.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1163,"url":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?p=1163","url_meta":{"origin":1296,"position":1},"title":"Perfect that knee fold","author":"Priya Tew","date":"13 January, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"This week in my classes I\u2019ve been focusing on pelvis weight and neutral pelvis. It can be all so easy to forget the basics of Pilates and getting away from these makes the exercises easier so you get less benefits. When lifting your legs (for example knee folds) you want\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Classes"","block_context":{"text":"Classes","link":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?cat=5"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pilates with Priya: single knee fold","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/DSCF9796-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1143,"url":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?p=1143","url_meta":{"origin":1296,"position":2},"title":"Bodyweight workouts and Pilates","author":"Priya Tew","date":"1 February, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Bodyweight workouts are those that use your bodweight as the resistance and challenge instead of equipment. Think of lunges, squats, press up, planks. These types of exercises help you tone up and build muscle. Muscle increases the metabolic rate of the body so you burn more calories. The more muscle\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Exercises"","block_context":{"text":"Exercises","link":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"plank-pose-6707926","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/plank-pose-6707926-300x190.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1099,"url":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?p=1099","url_meta":{"origin":1296,"position":3},"title":"3 Band Exercises to Tone and Tighten","author":"Priya Tew","date":"31 October, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=tnMberBXjL8","rel":"","context":"In "AnteNatal"","block_context":{"text":"AnteNatal","link":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/tnMberBXjL8\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1543,"url":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?p=1543","url_meta":{"origin":1296,"position":4},"title":"Top 5 Pilates Books.","author":"Priya Tew","date":"3 April, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I'll be honest. If someone tesll me that they have been learning Pilates from a book I inwardly cringe. Personally I feel that you can only get a proper understanding of Pilates from attending a class with a good teacher. One who will correct your technique, be hands on with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Exercises"","block_context":{"text":"Exercises","link":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pilates with Priya: Top 5 Pilates books","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Pilatesbooks--300x300.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1227,"url":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?p=1227","url_meta":{"origin":1296,"position":5},"title":"Foam Roller Exercises to release tension in neck and shoulders.","author":"Priya Tew","date":"12 May, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I literally love rollers. They are so good for core workouts but also great for muscle and fascia release. If you don't have one in your house you really need one. If you sit for hours at a desk or feed and carry a baby then spend time hunched over\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Exercises"","block_context":{"text":"Exercises","link":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC_2043.jpg?fit=1200%2C795&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC_2043.jpg?fit=1200%2C795&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC_2043.jpg?fit=1200%2C795&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC_2043.jpg?fit=1200%2C795&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC_2043.jpg?fit=1200%2C795&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1296"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1302,"href":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1296\/revisions\/1302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pilateswithpriya.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}