Training & Nutrition - legs cramp when spinning fast

ok, when ever I ride in mid-high gears my legs are fine, but once I start shifting inot the lowest gears and pedeling real fast (up hill, sprinting) my legs cramp up like crazy. Once the fast pedeling stops, the pain (burn) is gone. I can actually go up hill in the higher gears EZer, than with the lower gears. It seems like the faster I pedel, the more I cramp, but even if Im riding up hill and Im in the highest gear I hardly ever tire out. To make things even stranger, once the fast pedeling stops, the pain is gone. Also Im almost never out of beath and have a reg heart rate when my legs cramp.

I guess I have low twich muscles.

Other than banana's, what other foods will aide in curing leg cramps.

How much water are you drinking?

My thoughts too- perhaps you need to drink some water?

Another thing you might consider is that you are fatiguing your muscles too early- it sounds as though you have a huge increase in lactic acid buildup in the legs... and it may be from not taking a long enough warm up before doing your heavy work?

Consider drinking a lot more water, and take a longer warm up. Also, train your legs to become more efficient at tolerating lactic acid buildup in the legs- more interval training and faster tempo training.

Originally posted by Koffee Brown
Also, train your legs to become more efficient at tolerating lactic acid buildup in the legs- more interval training and faster tempo training.

Touchdown! There's a common assumption that a lack of potassium and/or magnesium and improper hydration are the cause of leg cramps. These are important, but people often overlook the fact that there's a fundamental conditioning aspect! If you start getting cramps 60 miles into a hot summer ride for no apparent reason, you definitely need to check out the nutritional angle. But if you're getting them early, due primarily to hard efforts, it sounds more like a conditioning / blood supply thing. Maybe consider supplementing some vitamin E, if you don't already, and keep working on the conditioning (in moderation). Improvement will come!

Originally posted by Chris L
How much water are you drinking?

I drink alot of water

Originally posted by Koffee Brown
My thoughts too- perhaps you need to drink some water?

Another thing you might consider is that you are fatiguing your muscles too early- it sounds as though you have a huge increase in lactic acid buildup in the legs... and it may be from not taking a long enough warm up before doing your heavy work?

Consider drinking a lot more water, and take a longer warm up. Also, train your legs to become more efficient at tolerating lactic acid buildup in the legs- more interval training and faster tempo training.

I live at the bottom of a huge valley, so for the first 20 min of my bike ride Im riding up a huge hill. No matter which direction I go its up hill.:D

if you have a stationary trainer or rollers, why not try to warm up on them before stating your bike ride. then if you still cramp, at least you know it's not because of an improper warm-up and you can look for other reasons for your cramping problem.

I habitually add a mg/ca tablet to my water to keep the pH level of my blood a tad higher than normal.. it diminishes incidence of cramp as the pain from lactic acid is caused by a too low pH (too acid) of the blood.

Ivana