Training & Nutrition - leg cramps

Have been getting serious leg cramps on long distance rides. Any of you have some suggestions?

well I'm not a doctor or anything, but I remember reading somewhere that sometimes cramping can be due to either too much or too little salt in the diet ... although riding a long way probably has something to do with it too I would think :D

Also are you drinking enough water as you ride (probably a dumb question I guess), but I know in my experience not drinking enough while exerting myself causes all sorts of problems in all sorts of palces.

dunno if this helped but here's hoping.

Colin

are we talking about calf cramping or thigh cramping?

perhaps you can find the answer here


http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=muscle+cramps+during+exertion

Potassium helps keep muscle cramps away. Eat bananas.

I have always heard that leg cramps were a result of not drinking enough fluids and/or not enough blood circulation. If you wear shorts with tight elastic in the legs they can slow down the circulation.

Make sure you are drinking enough. Potassium and Magnesium are also essential if your rides last longer than 1 hour.

Also make sure you stretch correctly before and after a ride, and several times a day even when you don't ride.

But, do take cramps seriously. A series of calf cramps (caused by insufficient hydration) caused me to develop Achilles Tendonitis, which has effectively kept me off the bike for over a month now.

Cheers,
Jamie

i think most of the post are right on - particularly Jamie's comment.

as i understand cramping is the improper firing of the muscle which is usually cause by a combination of factors:
* muscle fatigue/exertion
* dehydration
* loss of salts - particularly potasium and magnesium
* muscle tightness - usually from combination of above

i most often get cramps on longer rides when i switch between cycling, then running/walking and then again cycling - and my calves often cramp badly. i think something about switching the muscle group causes additional muscles to tighten.

i have had good luck preventing these cramps by
* drinking LOTs
* taking potasium and magnesium supplements
* stretching

when you do get cramps:
* stretch --- i can strech my calves while on the bike and often can do a good job while drafting or during a descent (this is particularly valid for calf cramps) - when it's really bad, get off the bike and stretch it out till it's better
* try to change your pedal stroke to use different muscles - either stand or try to use more thigh/more calf/more "ankle" as appropriate
* drink

if you have more serious cramps or cramps at the beginning of a ride or cramps under "no load" i.e. sitting at your desk at work, then i think that's a different/bigger problem - maybe see a sports doctor? i would guess there is some muscle/nerve imbalance that might be able to be improved by exercise to improve the muscle balance or muscle coordination...

I never get cramps while I'm riding, not even on 70-90 mile rides, but I do get cramps at night. As soon as I stretch out the cramp in my hamstrings, I get one in the sartorius, then the peroneals along the fibula cramp. They are the hardest to stretch out. Interestingly enough I don't get cramps in my calves. I never cramp up at work after my morning commute. Some nights I will have 2 or 3 sets of cramps. I get plenty of calcium, I think I'm getting enough potassium, and I think I'm drinking enough. Any ideas?

Cramps ain't nice at all. I went for my first track and field training on Wednesday. It lasted for 3 hours and it was like rather high intensity. My body is so sore right now but I'm recovering quickly, almost fully recovered. I had cramp in my calves in the last hour or so, luckily the cross-country teacher was really nice, he helped me to stretch. I couldn't have stretch on my own, my toes were pointing away from me.

I don't get cramps before. It's like when you put your body into too much stress, it will protest seriously.

When rehydrating lost fluids and minerals to prevent cramps keep in mind you need to balance the potassium replacement with sodium replacement and the magnesium replacement with calcium replacement as these work synergesically and an excess of one will cause a deficientcy of the other.

I had to drop out of a century at the 75 mile point because of BAD (read as painful) leg cramps.

Cause: Didn't drink enough water the 2-3 days before the century and didn't drink enough water during the ride. :crash:
But I did learn from the experience. :beer:

all of the above plus vit E. relieves cramps.. takes a lot longer than water.. but some ppl have a deficiency.. add exertion, poor hydration and you get cramps..especially calf cramps.

So you are half way through a 140 mile ride.. Hydrate.. On a really challenging ride with lots of climbing I take power drinks such as Cytomax... Sort of worried about my next century-some really steep climbs... Climbing mountains with my energy drinks, I have not had much of a problem, while others I consider stronger than me- have had problems.. Can't figure that one out.. Hope mid-way through my next big century plus, I can find the Cytomax out in the middle of no where.. That should keep us powered up with Potassium...? So is cramping a sign of being bonked or dehydrated?
We will be out touring the desert, maybe alone much of the time.. Can't afford that problem...

If you're getting the cramps during long, but moderate, exertion it sounds like dehydration. I have nothing to add to the advice already given. Except this; if you use salt, replace it with Morton Lite Salt. It's a mix of sodium chloride and potassium chloride. You get less sodium and more potassium... both good.

sports drink sports drink !!,,, I dont know if your doing that. My choice is Gatorade... on long ride I drink min 20 oz /hr of gatrorade and 20 of water. After 4-5hrs I back off on the gatorade and just water.
One century I did not drink gatorade and I cramped so bad I had a black and blue mark after. You can also get gatorade inpowder form to carry on long ones