I asked my friend who used to play basketball a lot since, well, he's a guy so far more testosterone than me. =P His suggestion is really, really hydrating. I'm not normally a fan of it, but in this instance we agree it might be appropriate to go for Gatorade - trying cut 50/50 with water first, if that doesn't seem to help go straight Gatorade. GU gels or the chews might also be an option. Monitor hydration throughout the day, not just during a workout, and see if that doesn't help.
Thanks, I'm definitely going to try that. I've been using an old water bottle (dasani sized, not like, a workout water bottle) to try and help monitor how much I've been drinking. I know I'm not drinking the recommended 8 glasses of water a day, and I tend to drink a soda with food, and tea at home, but drinking water has definitely help with a few other thinks. I think adding electrolytes to that would help a lot, and it's something I didn't even consider at this point.
His guess is eating bananas is probably just not delivering what you need into your system fast enough. So potassium supplements might help with that more effectively. Be careful with zinc supplements, if you take them on an empty stomach they tend to make people throw up. Even meds that just include zinc make my stomach hurt. X_X Also be careful not to take too much and not for too long... high levels for long periods of time can potentially damage the kidneys. You might also try a calcium supplement as well, calcium + magnesium seems to be a good combo to take together.
If I get a really bad cramp, I'll eat a banana right afterwards, but it does take a while to really stop hurting, and at this point, epsom salt soaks are only doing so much. I've had to really scale back my workout routines because it's probably hurting me more than helping. I don't run, but I know someone who does and he's in the same boat, can't even run 1/4th a mile without getting a severe leg cramp and having to limp home. He's started the calcium/zinc/magnesium/potassium supplements already, and I'm waiting to see if that's helped at all before I start. I've take calcium supplements before, I usually get my potassium from just eating bananas, never taken an actual supplement for it before, so when I finish my two finals today I'll have more time to research the pros and cons of taking any sort of supplement at all, or just riding it out until my body adjusts, which everyone says it does eventually, around six months or so. I knew about kidney damage with zinc, which is why I'm hesitant to take it, because I'm already taken prescription meds that can interfere with kidney function, so I'm probably going to bring it up with my doctor before I take any and see what he has to say about it.
ETA: The only time I ever get muscle seizes or spasms is after a half-marathon... never on long training runs but the intensity of an actual race does it every time. I take an herbal pill for Leg Cramps made by Hyland. But AFAIK it's really mostly for leg cramps so depending on which muscles are seizing it might not help. It's pretty inexpensive and I think you can even get it at Wal-Mart now, so it might be worth a try?
It's mostly my shoulder muscles, traps, biceps and triceps that are causing the issue. Especially if I'm trying to do pull ups or push ups, even incline pushups, with a regular grip (I have about three different type of pushups I do in a circuit, all incline, regular, wide and diamond grip currently) my legs aren't bothering me, even doing my regular amount of squats and lunges (I am not a fan of running, so I don't bother.
I'm considering going to the pool up the street this weekend and swimming some laps and seeing if swimming causes any cramps. If it doesn't, I may just substitute a membership there and go swimming three or four times a week instead of doing my bodyweight routine until I can get the source of the problem under control.
I'm not surprised by the cramps themselves per say, I am surprised by the severity and pain of them. My biceps have gained around an inch and a half in muscle in just under three weeks, and that with hardly working out at all because of the pain.
Judging by my younger brother, I have at least another few inches to go until I reach what is normal for my families size/muscle mass without working out. I mean, he plays the drums religiously, and rides his bike everywhere, but he doesn't work out with any dedication, but he has quite a bit of muscle, naturally, and we can pass as twins with our hair cut the same so I figure it'll end up somewhere around what he looks like, though he's slightly broader in the shoulder than I am, and I'm slightly thinner in the body than he is, so not exactly the same but probably pretty close.
It's annoying once you get into a workout routine, and you feel good after your workout to having to cut it either in half or out completely. I'll be researching those supplements, and waiting to hear if they worked for my friend before starting anything, and my doctors appointment is before then anyway, so I'll be discussing the muscle pain with him.
I'm also annoyed that I could do about five dead hang pullups in a row to being able to only do one before my shoulder muscle catches fire. Steven is making sure my form is correct, so I'm not doing any of the exercises wrong, just another hurdle in the way I guess.
I'm not sure if this is important or not, but I'm still craving mushrooms, which I know are high in b12 and D, but not craving bananas, so I'm not sure if that has anything to do with anything at all
Thanks everyone for all your ideas!