Why do my muscles get so tight

P

Priscilla K

New member
I am 34 year old male and been playing sports my entire life. I consider myself in pretty good shape. I dont really life weights and my main source of exercise is playing basketball for an hour 3 days a week. Diet could definitely be better but lately last few months have cut out fast food due to trying to save cash. Now for my problem. For as long as I can remember there are times when I'm playing basketball where I just get wore down and my muscles dont move real well. If I shoot an outside shot my arms dont work right and the shot will be way off. I dont have any explosiveness or quickness when this happens. Then there are other days when I am fine and I can play the entire hour and I dont lose a step.

Some other things that happen when I experience my muscle tightness are if I clench my fist really hard then i let the muscles go and I cannot open my hand for maybe 2-3 seconds. Another example if I'm sitting in a chair for a while and I get up and try to walk my first few steps i gotta kinda pause a bit before my legs will start going. Or if I need to take off running from a standstill my first few steps my legs dont move right away but then after about 2 seconds they loosen up and i'm off to the races.

Is this just dehydration? I've tried drinking lots of Powerade Zero during the day but it dont help much. Any ideas? I'd like to finish my basketball games as strong as I start them. My last game I dominated the first half of the game then 2nd half I couldnt do anything cause I was like molasses out there.
 
You may be low in potassium. Have you had it checked?

Do you do stretches before and after playing. Maybe inbetween shots do a few stretches.
 
It's called the aging process. Be sure you do your stretching exercises throughout the game...but I think you will find your muscles just don't bounce back like they use to. I remember when I was just a little older than you when I was playing softball for our company team I hit what should of been a home run but my muscles on my thighs 'froze up' so bad I couldn't run...that was such a shock to me because nothing like that had ever happened before!...I had never had to 'stretch' in the past.
 
Ok here is an update and thank you for the responses so far. Played another basketball game a week ago and played awesome and only had one short little break during the game. No muscle sluggishness towards the end at all. Now here is the part I'm wondering about. Before the previous game I noticed some of my friends were taking an Aleve about an hour before the game. So before this last game I also took an Aleve and I'm wondering if that had any effects on my muscles during the game. Anyone have ideas on what could be happening here? Maybe I will try it again before my next game, but I have a feeling its probably not something I should make a habit of.
 
if the aleeve actually made a difference then at least part of your problem is inflammation based since that is what aleeve works on,inflammation. considering you have been very active all your life there could be some underlying 'injuries" or possible issues within your spine too. it is wear and tear stuff,ya know? i too was very active and just went thru six seperate surgeries on all my wear and tear crap since 2001. my knees and my c spine(herniation and ongoing deterioration) and my latest last year,rotator cuff repair.

there just "could' be something more underlying in all this or it could just be the age thing along wioth all the things you have done to your body over the years and all the stuff you used to be able to just 'blow off'? i am only 47 and at age 40,everything i did to myself as far as inury goes,all kind of hit me out of nowhere at age 40. if this stuff persists,i would seek out your primarys help in trying to find the source of your muscle issues. but it could be age hon. just watch for any other strange or odd symptoms and make notes of them so when you do see your doc,you can tell him whats been going on. it can help with arriving at certain Dxes. goodluck and please keep us posted. FB
 
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