[ExI] discovery

[Ben Zaiboc]

  I have a - well, not a theory, really, more an observation, or even 
just a question - about night cramps.

They're always leg or foot cramps, aren't they? People never seem to get 
arm cramps or back cramps in the night.

I'm sure everyone's familiar with the phenomenon of dreaming that you're 
running, but can't run at more than a snail's pace, running through 
treacle kind of sensation, and the frustration it produces.

We know (I think) that this is caused by deliberate paralysis of the leg 
muscles during sleep, to prevent us walking over cliffs etc., in the night.

But we keep trying, in our dreams, to run.

And the final piece: It's quite possible to induce a cramp in a muscle 
by over-contracting it, for long enough.

Maybe a combination of these things, and the timing of the paralysis, 
contributes to nocturnal leg cramps.

Solution: learn to skate.

I've found, that, since doing a lot of street skating, my 'running' 
dreams get replaced by 'skating' dreams, where when I want to go 
somewhere, I skate instead of run. Different muscles involved, a lot 
easier, I get somewhere in the dreams, and don't get the leg cramps as much.

It may be nonsense, but so may be the idea that cramps are caused by 
mineral deficiencies, and if you take a couple of Magnesium supplement 
tablets daily (I do), you get less cramps (I do).

Any other ideas?

Ben