ArticleBMJ open sport & exercise medicine2019
Water intake after dehydration makes muscles more susceptible to cramp but electrolytes reverse that effect.
Article in BMJ open sport & exercise medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 14 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Risk Factors for Exercise-Associated Muscle Cramps: A Systematic Review With Meta-Analysis.Muscle & nerve · 2026Pooled it
- Exploring the gut-exercise link: A systematic review of gastrointestinal disorders in physical activity.World journal of gastroenterology · 2025Pooled it
- Oral Rehydration Beverages for Treating Exercise-Associated Dehydration: A Systematic Review, Part I. Carbohydrate-Electrolyte Solutions.Journal of athletic training · 2025Pooled it
- Occupational heat risk perceptions and behavioral adaptation strategies among construction and welding workers in Bangladesh.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Prediction of survival in acute myeloid leukemia patients by extracellular to intracellular water ratio and sarcopenia: development and validation of a novel nomogram.Annals of hematology · 2025Article
- A review of nutritional recommendations for scuba divers.Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2024Review
- Prevalence and Predictors of Leg Cramps in the Third Trimester of Pregnancy: A Cross-Sectional Study.International journal of women's health · 2024Article
- Compositional Aspects of Beverages Designed to Promote Hydration Before, During, and After Exercise: Concepts Revisited.Nutrients · 2023Review
- An Evidence-Based Review of the Pathophysiology, Treatment, and Prevention of Exercise-Associated Muscle Cramps.Journal of athletic training · 2022Review
- Article
- Effect of oral rehydration solution versus spring water intake during exercise in the heat on muscle cramp susceptibility of young men.Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2021Article
- H-reflex and M-wave responses after voluntary and electrically evoked muscle cramping.European journal of applied physiology · 2021Article
- Low-Osmolality Carbohydrate-Electrolyte Solution Ingestion Avoid Fluid Loss and Oxidative Stress After Exhaustive Endurance Exercise.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
- Muscle Cramping During Exercise: Causes, Solutions, and Questions Remaining.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2019Review
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issuedCorrection:2019
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveNo previous study has compared water and oral rehydration solution (ORS) intake after dehydration induced by exercise in the heat for the effect on muscle cramps. The present study tested the hypothesis that water ingestion after dehydration would increase muscle cramp susceptibility, but this would be prevented by ORS ingestion.
methodsTen men performed two bouts of downhill running (DHR; -5%) in the heat (35°C-36 °C) until their body mass was reduced by 2%. Ten minutes after DHR, either spring water or electrolyte water similar to ORS (OS-1
resultsMuscle cramp susceptibility assessed by TF did not change from baseline to immediately after DHR for both conditions (water: 24.6 ± 2.1 Hz, OS-1
conclusionThese results suggest that water intake after dehydration makes muscles more susceptible to electrical simulation-induced muscle cramp, probably due to dilution of electrolytes, and when OS-1
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Registered trials
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