charlie horse in both calfs

[provi]

I have been walking and doing aquatics but now my calf muscles are giving me trouble...had severe pain yesterday...screaming pain when I tried to get out of the pool.  Today  I rested but they are still sore....how do I prevent this.

[Odyssey13]

@provi  This article from WebMD should help a bit - click

[Heybales]

Do you do any stretching after you have warmed up a bit, or actually with your nice calm workout, when you are done with the workout?

Need soleus and gastrocnemius stretches.

http://www.exrx.net/Stretches/Gastrocnemius/Wall.html

http://www.exrx.net/Stretches/Soleus/Wall.html

Article mentions the other good stuff - mine was low on magnesium, once I do that, fine.

[2befit]

Low potassium and magnesium levels can cause leg cramps. Eat foods rich in potassium and magnesium. I also take a magnesium supplement. You'll want to take that with calcium for better absorption.

[WendyB]

I agree on the stretching. Its so important and many people do not even bother.

[optfitness1]

Are you staying hydrated? There could be several reasons you are having this pain. If you have muscle imbalances, such as tight hamstrings-causing other muscles to compensate movement, what others have touched on- low levels of potassium and magnesium, your weight plays a factor (excessive weight causing pressure). So without seeing you, it is very difficult to give you an answer as to how to stop the cramps. Pre and post stretching. You can do dynamic stretching as your warm up, heel raises, lateral lunges, high knees, as a few examples.