After a rough 2-3 start to the season, the Timpview Football team is looking for just about anything to give them some momentum at the start of region play. After 3 brutal losses to East, American Fork, and Lone Peak, the Thunderbirds hope to start throwing games in the win column. In the first couple games, one thing has shown up multiple times.
Cramping.
What’s the cause of a cramp? Usually, especially for players on the football team, cramps can come from dehydration, an unbalance of electrolytes (low sodium, potassium, calcium, or magnesium,) and not getting a full warm up. All of these can mess with the function of muscles.
Another notable detail is the heat, with the early season games kicking off around 7pm, the temperature at that time of day can still be upwards of 80 or 85 degrees. This comes along with the heat of the turf, which can be anywhere from 35-55 degrees hotter than regular grass. With that said, the turf can be anywhere from 110-120 degrees at kickoff.
In the first game of the year, two key players that had to miss time during the game were Senior Wide Receiver and Safety Braxton Wilkerson and Senior Kicker Luke Thornock. When asked what he’s doing to combat these cramps, Wilkerson said “I take salt pills which have really made a big difference. Then I also have pickle juice that I drink at halftime.” Fatigue can be tough for Braxton, especially because he plays on both sides of the ball. Braxton easily plays some of the most snaps on the team, which makes him one of the most conditioned as well. When asked what he was doing to stay warm and not cramp, Luke said “I have been hydrating a lot more on the days leading up to the game and drinking lots of electrolytes the day of” he also has “added a stretching routine that I usually do just every night and in my pregame warmup” This is good to hear, especially with Luke being one of the most skilled players on the team.
Hopefully the team can continue to stay hydrated and build off the winning streak they have started in the first weeks of region.
