Work Out Question

Cramps are narrowed down to mainly two things, dehydration and potassium. Water consumption should be fairly simple but fails on a lot of people's requirements. A 5'6" person should be drinking about 4liters of water a day (your pee should be a really light yellow to almost clear). For Potassium, Bananas and nuts have a good amount of potassium. You should never cold stretch (stretching prior to any workout), always do some exercise before hand. Get on the tread mill and at a 3-4mph hour pace for about 10 minutes then stretch your muscles, all not just the ones you will be using. Legs, behind, abs, back, arms, shoulders and neck.
As for Vicky, your muscles are not used to that routine and will complain, as they get used to it, they will complain less. When your muscles stop complaining then you have an issue, that is when they are no longer being worked which means they will no longer grow. I recommend using a site like shapefit.com or a similar website desigend for workouts.

Do you stretch and warm up first?
Ooh sorry you do.

Try eating a banana before hand.

I do a lot of fitness classes. For some reason every time I do step I get so much pain in my legs for days. I just stopped doing it because I couldn't figure out how to fix it. I can do all other high intensity workouts and run without problems.

I know this isn't helpful but at least you aren't the only one.

I started working out again & was having similar issues. My only solution was to increase my water intake. I also started eating 1 banana a day. The potassium helps to alleviate muscle cramps.
Hope this helps!

I love step aerobics! But...they're very hard on your gastrocnemius (calf), Achilles tendon, and soleus muscles.

If you're having problems with cramping only when you're doing step, spend more time stretching (dynamic) and warming up and before you start using the step, do part of your step routine on the floor to acclimate your body to the motions you will be doing. If possible, when you start the workout lower the step to warm up a bit more and then raise it to your typical level.

Be sure to stretch (static) and ice afterwards.

Is it a charlie horse? Like a tightening in the back of the bottom half of your leg? If it is, you should continue to work out and it will go away. It is usually caused by the building of a new muscle and will eventually stop. Drink a lot of water and stretch A LOT before and after working out!

Hydration, regular stretching