You know the moment. First game, you feel great. By the second, your legs are heavier, and somewhere in the back of your calf there is a warning. Maybe it locks up on the court. Maybe it waits until 2am and pulls you out of your sleep.
Most players have learned to live with it. Spray the numbing stuff. Stretch it out in the dark. Call it part of the game, or worse, part of getting older.
It mostly is not. By the end of this page you will understand cramps better than most people who coach you, and you will have a short list of things to change. We make an electrolyte drink, so you know where we stand, but we are going to be straight about what electrolytes can and cannot do, and about the fixes that have nothing to do with us.
First: how to stop a cramp that is happening right now
Before the science, the first aid. When a cramp hits, the muscle has fired and refuses to release. The one thing that reliably works in the moment is a gentle stretch in the opposite direction, because it triggers the muscle's own release reflex.
For a calf cramp, the usual 2am one
- Straighten your leg and pull your toes up toward your shin. Use a towel around the ball of your foot if you cannot reach. Hold it. The cramp will usually let go within 30 to 60 seconds.
- Or stand up and press your heel into the floor, knee slightly bent, toes lifted. Standing alone is sometimes enough.
- Then massage the muscle gently to get blood moving, and use warmth, a warm shower or warm towel, to help it stay relaxed.
That solves the next five minutes. The rest of this page is about not being woken up in the first place.
Why you cramp when you play
Your muscles run on tiny electrical signals. Every contraction, and every release, is a signal carried by minerals called electrolytes: mainly sodium, potassium and magnesium. Think of them as the spark plugs.
A cramp is not a weak muscle and it is not an old muscle. A cramp is a signalling failure. The muscle gets the message to fire, and the message to relax stops landing. Understanding that changes how you fix it, because the question becomes: what interferes with the signal?
Two things, mainly.
1. You sweated out the minerals that carry the signal
Sweat is not just water. Depending on the person, every litre of sweat carries roughly 500 to 1,500 mg of sodium out with it, plus smaller amounts of potassium and magnesium. Ninety minutes of padel or futsal in KL heat adds up fast. Run low, and the muscle misfires.
And if you play after a full day of work, you start from behind. A day in air-conditioning, coffee through the morning, not much water, then straight to the court. The 2am cramp is the bill for the whole day, not just the match.
2. The muscle is simply exhausted
The second cause has nothing to do with hydration. When a muscle is pushed harder or longer than it is used to, the nerves that control it get jumpy, and the relax signal misfires. This is why cramps love the third game when you normally play two, the longest match of the month, and the first week back after a break.
The honest part: scientists still debate which of these two matters more, and the truthful answer is that both are real and they stack. Fatigue makes the muscle twitchy, mineral loss makes the signal weaker, and a long humid evening serves both at once. Anyone promising you a magic fix for all cramps is overselling. What you can do is take away the causes you control.
Why drinking more water can actually make it worse
This is the part most people get backwards, and it is the reason "but I drank water all match" is the most common sentence in cramp stories.
Plain water replaces the fluid you sweated out, but none of the salt. Worse, if you pour a lot of plain water in after a heavy sweat, you dilute the sodium you have left in your blood. Less sodium, when sodium is exactly what carries the signal.
That is why you can be disciplined about water, eight glasses a day, a full bottle through the match, and still seize up at night. You were treating the wrong half of the problem.
What the research shows
The cleanest test of this came from Edith Cowan University in Australia, in research led by Professor Ken Nosaka. Athletes exercised in the heat until they had sweated heavily, then researchers measured how easily their calf muscles could be triggered into cramp.
The result: people who drank an electrolyte solution became more resistant to cramping. People who drank plain water became more prone to it. Same exercise, same heat. The difference was what was in the bottle.
That is one study about electrolyte drinks in general, not about our product, and we will not pretend otherwise. But it matches what the mechanism predicts and what players report, and it is the reason "just drink more water" is bad cramp advice.
The five things that actually prevent cramps
Here is the full toolkit, honestly ranked. Only one of these is something we sell.
1. Drink so the water actually stays in
How you drink matters as much as how much. Your body absorbs fluid best in steady, modest amounts. A litre downed in one go mostly rushes through; the same litre sipped across the afternoon stays with you. So: water steadily through the day, around 500ml in the hour before you play, and 100 to 200ml at every changeover. Start the match topped up, because you cannot catch up mid-game.
2. Put the minerals back, not just the fluid
This is where electrolytes earn their place. After a heavy sweat, replace sodium, potassium and magnesium, not just water. A proper electrolyte drink is the direct way. Food helps too: bananas and potatoes for potassium, nuts, seeds and dark chocolate for magnesium, and your normal cooked meals carry salt. If you sweat lightly and eat well, food alone may cover you. If you finish matches soaked, it usually does not.
3. Do not spike your effort
Cramps love "more than usual." The third game when you play two. The tournament weekend after a quiet month. If you are coming back from a break, build up across a couple of weeks instead of jumping straight into your old volume. This one is free and it matters more than most people want to hear.
4. Sleep and recovery
A tired nervous system controls muscles badly. Short nights make twitchy muscles, and twitchy muscles cramp. If you are stacking late nights, long workdays and night matches, the cramp is partly a recovery problem, and no drink fixes that.
5. Strengthen, and stretch at the right time
One honest correction to common advice: stretching before the match has not been shown to prevent cramps. Stretching is the tool for stopping a cramp that is already happening. What helps prevention is the slow kind of work: regular calf strengthening, like slow heel raises a few times a week, so the muscle handles long matches without panicking.
Where ELT fits
ELT does one job in that list: number two, done properly.
One sachet carries 600 mg sodium, 200 mg potassium and 60 mg magnesium, with zero sugar, flavoured with 29% real citrus. Those numbers are the point. The sweet isotonic drinks most of us grew up with carry around 80 mg of sodium per can, plus a lot of sugar. Some imported electrolyte brands go the other way and pack 1,000 mg of sodium into one serving. We think the sensible dose for playing in this climate sits in the middle: enough to replace what you sweat out, not so much that you wince drinking it.
The cramp routine that works for most players
- Before: one sachet in your water in the hour before a hard or hot session, so you start topped up.
- During: sip water through the match. If it runs long past 90 minutes, electrolytes here too.
- After: one more sachet once you are off the court. For night crampers, this is the one that matters most.
- Give it three games, not one. The deficit built up over time, and clearing it does too.
And the honest flip side: if you are not sweating much, plain water is probably fine. We would rather you skip ELT on the days you do not need it and trust us on the days you do.
Replace what the heat takes out
600mg sodium · 200mg potassium · 60mg magnesium · 0g sugar · halal-certified ingredients · US-formulated, by a Malaysian team, ships from PJ · about RM5 a sachet
Try ELTWhat players tell us
We will let two of them say it, because they say it better than we can.
"I played padel for 5 hours yesterday and I did not get cramps when I slept. Usually after a long game day my calves would always cramp up. I am truly amazed."
aidadada0, verified buyer
"No cramps when I play padel daily. My friends at football like them too. One sachet before, one after, and bye bye cramps."
youssef_souissi, verified buyer
Notice what they did. They were not chasing a cure. They replaced what they were sweating out, consistently, and the cramps eased. That is the realistic win, and it is a good one.
When cramps are not a hydration story
One more honest section, because it matters. Most exercise and night cramps are exactly what this page describes. But see a doctor rather than a drink if:
- Cramps happen often without exercise, heat or heavy sweating
- They come with swelling, numbness, tingling or skin changes in the leg
- They started after you began a new medication (some cholesterol and blood pressure medicines can cause cramps)
- They are severe, frequent and not improving despite fixing the basics above
Those patterns can point to circulation, nerve or medication issues, and no electrolyte fixes those. Getting that checked is the right move, not a failure.
The simple version
- Cramp happening now: stretch the muscle the opposite way, toes toward your shin, then gentle massage and warmth.
- You cramp during or after hot, sweaty sessions: the fixable piece is usually the minerals you sweated out and never put back. Water alone does not do that job, and too much of it can make things worse. Electrolytes before and after, for at least three games.
- You cramp when you suddenly play more than usual: build up gradually, sleep properly, and add calf strengthening. That part is free.
- You cramp at rest, with other symptoms, or on new medication: doctor first.
If your evenings end soaked and your nights sometimes end at 2am on the bedroom floor pressing your heel into the tiles, that is worth addressing, not numbing. Keep a sachet in your bag, run the routine for three games, and see what your calves say.
Frequently asked questions
How do I stop a leg cramp right now?
Gently stretch the cramping muscle. For a calf cramp, straighten your leg and pull your toes up toward your shin, or stand and press your heel into the floor. Hold it until the cramp lets go, then massage gently and use warmth.
Do electrolytes help with muscle cramps?
They can, especially if you sweat heavily, play long, or train in the heat. A study at Edith Cowan University found an electrolyte drink made muscles more cramp-resistant while plain water made them more prone. Cramps have more than one cause, so this is help, not a guarantee.
Which electrolyte helps with cramps the most?
Sodium. It is the one you lose most in sweat and the one most tied to exercise cramps. Potassium and magnesium help your muscles relax, so you want all three, in sensible amounts.
Is it better to drink electrolytes or water for cramps?
Water replaces the fluid but not the minerals, and too much plain water can dilute the sodium you have left. For long or hot sessions, water plus electrolytes beats water alone.
Why do I cramp at night after playing sport?
You finished the game depleted, did not replace what you lost, and your tired muscles seize hours later, often in the calves. Replacing electrolytes before and after is what most players adjust first.
Can drinking too much plain water cause cramps?
It can contribute. Large amounts of plain water with no sodium thin out the sodium in your blood, and since sodium helps muscles fire, that can leave you more prone to cramps.
How fast do electrolytes work for cramps?
There is no instant switch. Replace electrolytes around your activity, one before and one after a hard session, rather than waiting for a cramp. Many players notice the difference within the first few games.
Do I need electrolytes if I only play casually?
Your body does not know the difference. Sweat rate is set by intensity and heat, not intent. If you finish a humid evening game soaked and sometimes cramp, electrolytes are worth trying.
When should I see a doctor about muscle cramps?
If cramps happen often without exercise, come with swelling or numbness, started with a new medication, or are severe and not improving. Those point to causes hydration will not fix.
Stay ready for the second game. We've got you.