could it be that my bike shorts are causing cramps? could it be that my shorts are too tight? it says that tight fitting shorts are supposed to be better for cycling, that it helps PROMOTE blood flow by applying pressure in certain areas. i just don't know what to do about cramps anymore. i get them so often in the same areas. the area i get them is right above the knee on the inner thigh. it varies on which side cramps first. sometimes they BOTH cramp up at the same time. and i usually get them about 20 miles into my rides. thx for the help.

who knows. what kind of crappy shorts are you wearing? performance or pearl izumi?

P.I's are crap??? Please share your knowledge.

if you want me to post pics of the damage they did to my 'taint then you better paypal me first.

No pics Please...LoL...what happened though? Let's hear it. Edge of the pad or a seam or????

sandpaper imitating as a chamois. 'nuff said?

Yup, Can't say I ever heard that complaint before though. I know lots of guys (including me)riding them with no complaints. Sorry for the loss of your taint

Hmm...I know they say tight fiting promotes blood flow...but that makes no sense. Think tourniquet.

yeah, that didn't make much sense to me either. any other brand shorts you guys could recommend me?

endurolytes:

https://www.e-caps.com/za/ECP?PAGE=PR...0047&AMI=10104

Yes, tight leg-hems on bike shorts can cause cramping in the place you suggest. Both I and my ride partner have experienced this phenomenon. You can maybe move the hem up or down your leg, but it may be you have to get another pair of shorts with this problem in mind.

Bike shorts are like saddles. You can try them on in the shop and they feel great, but not so after 100km of riding. Personally, I like PI shorts and have five of them. But there are others who can't stand them (but I don't go telling everyone that the shorts I don't like are crap).

That's because they're crap.

Performance Elite shorts work well for me. They do run a little smaller though.

You need to temper how you use your language, boy.

you need to learn when you're being played with.

I dont know how you could get shorts on that would be tight enough in the leg to do anything but make your skin white where th leg grippers are. The blood supply for your muscles doesnt travel through your skin it comes throug lrage arteries inside your thigh. If your leg grippers are constricting your thigh by an inch they dont fit. Not to mention how disgusting that would look.

That's odd, I have 5 pair and ridden a few thousand miles with no sores or problems. Just because something doesn't work for you, doesn't mean its complete crap.

It could be shorts, it may not be. If they are tight enough to hurt, its probably the shorts; however, they are supposed to be really snug against you.

Otherwise, I would really increase your potassium intake.

never said they were complete crap, just crap.

Exactly right.

Shorts are often the cause of mysterious knee (and area) pain. When people complain of knee pain, the first thing we think of is bicycle fit. Is your saddle too high or too low, etc. But when the bicycle has been deemed to fit, and the person is still experiencing pain, then the next thing I suggest considering is the clothing ...... even though clothing is often looked at as being quite inconsequential.

If a person is experiencing pain in the front of the knee (patello-femoral pain), one of the causes of such pain can be the fact that the person is wearing tights that are too tight over the knee ... even if those tights are made of a seemingly stretchy material such as spandex.

If a person is experiencing medial knee pain (that's on the inside of the knee), there's a good chance the elastic around the leg of the shorts is too tight. There's a really easy way to test this. If the pain is relieved to some extent when you lift the leg of the shorts away from the body near where you are experiencing the pain, that's exactly what the problem is. The second test is to wear a looser pair of shorts and see if you experience the same pain or not.

Here's the thing with tight shorts ... you should NOT purchase a pair of shorts that feels really tight in the elastic area of the leg band. Why not? Because as you ride your quads will swell a bit. When you exercise muscles they become engorged with blood. That's why bodybuilders love to pose in front of the mirrors during and right after a workout ... that's when they look the best! But if the elastic around the legs of your shorts is really tight to start with, during or after a long ride that elastic will become painfully tight and will pinch nerves and cut off circulation ......... causing knee pain!


So in answer the original question: "Yes."

Furthermore ....

1) Shorts which have tight elastic on the leg bands can also cause Vastus lateralis pain (that's a quad on the outside of your thigh) down near the knee. It's the same sort of thing as the medial knee pain I described above, only it feels like there is a very painful bruise about the size of your fist in a spot roughly where the leg band of your shorts is located. You can identify the shorts as the problem by lifting the leg band off the painful spot while you are riding. If you feel some relief immediately ... that's the problem.

2) As for tight shorts increasing circulation ... you've got the right idea there, but the wrong piece of equipment. Sugical stockings will increase circulation and are recommended for patients who have to spend a great deal of time in bed or not moving around much due to an illness or injury. They are also recommended for people who take long flights to various parts of the world, where you not be able to move around for extended periods of time. I have no idea how these stockings work. However the difference between these stockings and a pair of cycling shorts is that the stockings don't have a tight elastic band located somewhere about mid-thigh. They are usually all one piece from toe to hip. It's the elastic leg band on the shorts that can create the opposite effect of what you are going for.

sorry to say, but this sounds like I have a bit of, which is a partial kink in the external iliac artery, causing temporary claudication in the vastus mediali due to restricted blood flow. As you can imagine, it's the position of riding which is the main culprit. Normal 'simple' circulation tests by the general practitioner (physician) won't show much, because the blood flow isn't impeded when you're lying on his sugery bed. Also, not many PTs seem to know about this

I'd be surprised if it's the shorts, becuase any constriction caused by the elastic is so external.


https://lib.bioinfo.pl/pmid:10551336
https://lib.bioinfo.pl/pmid:12165881
https://lib.bioinfo.pl/pmid:12165882

Try it w/o the shorts and see how it goes.

but wear something, lest the police disagree with the nature of your test..

thanks for the replies! im going to be out for a ride this saturday and i'll move my shorts around to make them not be as tight around the area which i get the cramps and see if that helps. i'll also take some potassium supplements to see if that does anything. i'll update later on with my results. wish me luck.