Today's true sports drinks are still the classic Gatorade -- packed with the electrolytes potassium, magnesium, calcium, and sodium to provide energy during intense workouts -- as well as competitors such as Cytomax, Allsport, and Accelerade.
Certain medications can also cause Charley horse as a result of their side effects. Drugs such as statins or medicines prescribed for lowering cholesterol, blood pressure, diuretics, asthma medicines like terbutaline and salbutamol, morphine and lithium can trigger muscle spasms.
When you are encountered with a Charley horse, you can do certain things to relax the muscle and reduce discomfort. 1  Stop all your activities immediately after you get the first sign of a muscle spasm in the calf or in the back of the thigh. 2  Stretch and massage the affected muscle in the opposite direction of the spasm.