Muscle Cramps & Aging

[Image Source: Lucky Vitamin Blog]

Last night something strange happened to me. I got a muscle cramp. I know it doesn’t sound very bizarre to the ordinary person, but to me it is exceptionally unusual. This is the first muscle cramp in my whole adult life. I’ve had one or two other anatomical spasms before in recent years, but never an actual muscle cramp pulling tightly for a couple of seconds as I had last night. In fact, as far as I can remember, this was probably only the third or fourth serious muscle cramp in my whole life! My calve muscle contracted so suddenly and profusely that it woke me out of a deep sleep.

My first thought, of course, is that I have a mineral deficiency. I know this since I’m a martial art instructor and had to tell my students the reasons for their anatomical clinks. So tonight I’ll be taking a calcium and magnesium supplement before I go to bed and I've been eating extra bananas today for potassium. 

The disconcerting (“disconcerting” is one of my favourite words) thing about the whole experience is that it might be a bad omen, reflecting my ever so steadily “maturing”. According to a quick search on the Internet I learned that the older one gets, the more frequent muscle cramps are. Aging have of late again been at the forefront of my contemplations, with having had my birthday recently and all. And muscle cramps are not a good sign.