Originally Posted by
MoAlpha
As pointed out above, it’s not electrolytes, nor is it water. The leading theory is overactivity of the 1a afferent system, which mediates the muscle stretch reflex, and concomitant down-regulation of the 1b, tendon organ, system, which opposes it, leading to unopposed reflex activity in response to activation of the stretch receptors. The origin of the problem is probably in the spinal cord and the only consistently identified associated conditions are fatigue and relative lack of conditioning. The reason passive stretching relieves cramps is that it stimulates the tendon organs.
Pickle juice-mustard thing may indeed be real and mediated by activation of a brain stem reflex, which momentarily inhibits spinal motor output.
We now resume the steady stream of wrong info.
I blame sunspots and Jewish space lasers.
The science on cramps is so uncertain because the occurrence is so sporadic and random that they really can't be observed under controlled conditions. There's a lot of evidence for non-correlations, however.