CRAMP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ian westmacott]

I went on my local clubs reliability ride on my ht mountain bike 34 miles surrounded by £2000 road bikes (what fun)
i held my own with 20 of the slower road bike riders and all of the other mountain bikers and managed to get away from the group i had been riding with. At about the 30 mile mark i started to cramp up really bad .I couldnt stand up to attack the hills or respond to any challenges I and planning to do a few races this year and was just wondering if any one has any good tip on how not to cramp up.
regards ian

 

[Andrew_Culture]

I drink far too much of that High5 zero stuff, that seems to help, we'll that and having to stop every now and then to roll around own the floor trying to stretch and clear my cramps

 

[MrJamie]

I'm quite prone to cramp, presumably because I sweat quite a lot with exercise as I believe its something to do with sweating out salts. High5 is good and lucozade lite seems to do the job too, as do lidl/aldi (cant remember which) isotonic sports drinks. High5 have quite a good deal on CRC at the moment http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=75413 usually about £5-6 a tube, but they do last quite a while if you only use them on long or hot rides. Also excellent for hangovers

 

[Fab Foodie]

There will now follow a lot of posts about salts and electrolytes etc. Whilst well intentioned and anecdotal, they'll mostly be wrong.
Cramp is mostly about fitness or condition. You'll see a lot of cramp posts around now as people get out and ride like billy-o with little or no winter cycling fitness. You'll see almost no 'cramp posts' by late summer. The exact causes of cramp are poorly understood. Go and Google.

So, get out and ride more, warm-up slowly, keep warm, spin more, don't over-exert, warm down gently. Cramps will dissapear as you get fitter regardless of what you drink.

 

[lukesdad]

Erm shouldn;t this be somwhere else ?

 

[lukesdad]

There will now follow a lot of posts about salts and electrolytes etc. Whilst well intentioned and anecdotal, they'll mostly be wrong.
Cramp is mostly about fitness or condition. You'll see a lot of cramp posts around now as people get out and ride like billy-o with little or no winter cycling fitness. You'll see almost no 'cramp posts' by late summer. The exact causes of cramp are poorly understood. Go and Google.

So, get out and ride more, warm-up slowly, keep warm, spin more, don't over-exert, warm down gently. Cramps will dissapear as you get fitter regardless of what you drink.

listen to the man he knows what he's talking about.

 

[Broadside]

I agree with FabFoodie on this but would also add that a decent post ride stretching routine is very important to prevent cramping on the next ride. You have got to look after your muscles or they will pay you back with cramp.

 

[lukesdad]

I'm quite prone to cramp, presumably because I sweat quite a lot with exercise as I believe its something to do with sweating out salts. High5 is good and lucozade lite seems to do the job too, as do lidl/aldi (cant remember which) isotonic sports drinks. High5 have quite a good deal on CRC at the moment http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=75413 usually about £5-6 a tube, but they do last quite a while if you only use them on long or hot rides. Also excellent for hangovers

Barking up the wrong tree Mr J

 

[MrJamie]

Barking up the wrong tree Mr J

I know its purely anecdotal and I absolutely agree with Fab Foodie that it has a lot to do with training and getting used to it, but I know when I train for longer distance running that I can run say 10-15 miles in an evening or winter no problem without a drink, but on an averagely warm day I'll always sweat like crazy and get calf cramp every time, electrolyte drinks seem to reliably stop it and drinking plain water seems to make it happen quicker than not drinking anything. I don't believe in performance enhancing effects of sports drinks, but when you do sweat a lot they do seem to make a difference, I think even that Panarama programme admitted to that, but that it was unnecessary for most people

 

[lukesdad]

I know its purely anecdotal and I absolutely agree with Fab Foodie that it has a lot to do with training and getting used to it, but I know when I train for longer distance running that I can run say 10-15 miles in an evening or winter no problem without a drink, but on an averagely warm day I'll always sweat like crazy and get calf cramp every time, electrolyte drinks seem to reliably stop it and drinking plain water seems to make it happen quicker than not drinking anything. I don't believe in performance enhancing effects of sports drinks, but when you do sweat a lot they do seem to make a difference, I think even that Panarama programme admitted to that, but that it was unnecessary for most people

Electrolyte drinks are a gimmick they contain nothing you cannot get elsewhere, and at a better price. If you believe they work for you I'm not going to stop you spending your hard earned cash on them. Have you tried salt tablets ?

 

[Keith Oates]

I've only ever got cramp when cycling on a very few occasions , but when I've done some hard an long rides I sometimes get severe cramp in the hamstring area, when just turning over in the bed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Fab Foodie]

I've only ever got cramp when cycling on a very few occasions , but when I've done some hard an long rides I sometimes get severe cramp in the hamstring area, when just turning over in the bed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AAaaaghhhhhh

btw Keith, I think the OP is using too many exclaimation marks ....

 

[Ningishzidda]

Electrolyte drinks are a gimmick they contain nothing you cannot get elsewhere, and at a better price. If you believe they work for you I'm not going to stop you spending your hard earned cash on them. Have you tried salt tablets ?

"Symptoms of moderate hyponatremia include tiredness, disorientation, headache, muscle cramps, and nausea."

Even the fittest athletes suffer.
A lot of cyclist don't suffer because there is Sodium Bicarbonate in cake. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Ningishzidda]

MrJamie said.
"electrolyte drinks seem to reliably stop it and drinking plain water seems to make it happen quicker than not drinking anything."

This is true because plain water without added Sodium dilutes the blood even more than its Sodium depleted state.

"Severe hyponatremia can be treated by infusing a solution of 5% sodium chloride in water into the bloodstream." A 'Saline drip'.
If you are really worried about cramping, get a Camelback with 5% sodium chloride and fit it to a nasogastric tube The syphon effect should work OK.

 

[yello]

A good article here on cramp

http://www.teamsky.com/article/0,27290,20192_7441709,00.html

You'll note the varied possible causes but also (as FF points out above) the most likely; lack of physical condition and over exertion.

I went through a phase of cramping on the bike last year, and got lots of eat salt/bananas, drink more water advice (all well intended, I'm not knocking it at all). The phase passed - or I got fitter/stronger, as you like.