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When I posted before about leg cramps I left out the bodyworker's remedy (and I'm the massage therapist in the crowd. Sheesh!) PNF (proprioneurofacilitation) is a system of relieving muscle cramps and spasms by initiating movement in other muscles. A little background (skip this if you hate to learn stuff about your body): You have muscles that are the primary movers of specific bones. These are called the agonists (and this is even before they cramp up!). An example is the brachial biceps ["two-headed muscle in the area of the upper arm"]. This is the primary mover of the radius bone, and is the major muscle involved in bending the arm at the elbow. You also have helper muscles, called synergists. In the current example, the little fellow called the brachialis ["just hanging out in the area of the upper arm"] muscle helps the brachial biceps flex the elbow. Then you have muscles that oppose the agonist, called the antagonists (I am not kidding, here) and in the case of the brachial biceps, the triceps ["Mr. Three-headed muscle"] serves as the antagonist. Okay: agonist, synergist, antagonist. One physiological phenomenon is that, at the instant that an agonist is given the signal to contract, the antagonist is sent a signal to relax. That is so that you can really move your bones and not just have your muscles fighting each other all the time. In the case of a leg cramp, the gastrocnemeus ["the big bellied guy on the leg"] muscle goes into unremitting spasm. The gastroc's antagonist is the anterior tibialis ["in front of the tibia bone"] muscle. Its action is to flex the ankle up so the front of your foot rises when you take a step. So, the approach would be to intentionally contract the anterior tibilias. That means you need to hook the top of your foot under just about anything stable that you can reach with your foot and press the top of your toes hard up against whatever that is. Hold this for a slow three-count. Relax. Repeat twice if necessary, allowing four seconds or so between contractions. By doing this you are initiating the phenomenon whereby the signal to relax is sent to the gastrocnemeus. Try to remember not to hod your breath while you do this. BTW, the anterior tibialis is the muscle that hurts so much in the condition known as shinsplints. And what of the lowly synergist? Nothing, really -- I just wanted you to learn another vocabulary word! Test is next week. Bring a sharpened pencil. Deanne Charlton [log in to unmask]