Cramps seem to come on suddenly, often without any warning. The affected muscles may feel extremely tight and tense, accompanied by an intense, stabbing pain or twitching.

A bad muscle cramp can be excruciating. Often, it's a waiting game until the cramp ends — but the minutes can feel like hours, and your muscles may even feel sore or weak afterwards.

Perhaps you've heard that the answer to preventing and relieving these painful muscle spasms has to do with getting more electrolytes — namely potassium, a mineral that plays a key role in muscle function.

“Cramping happens for different reasons, and sometimes we don’t even really understand why even though they’re so common," Heidi Skolnik, MS, CDN, FACSM, sports nutritionist at the Women's Sports Medicine Center at HSS said in an interview with TODAY.com.  

Cramps are thought to have to do with the hyperactivity of motor neurons, which tell our muscles to contract, allowing us to move, said Skolnik. Normally, our muscles relax after contracting. "When the (neurons) just keep firing off, it can lead to a spasm or cramp,” said Skolnik.

Read the full article at today.com.