Leg cramps while riding.

<[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

What do you all do for leg cramps during a ride? Sure, you could always

get

Quoted message said:

off and take the time out to stretch, but what if you are bent on getting there? Should I just
take the downtime and stop and stretch? I try and stretch before and after a ride. I've been told
to always have a bananna handy and eat that for the leg cramps. I don't particularly like banannas
though. Any other suggestions? Any help is appreciated.

I've been plagued with leg cramps also, especially on long hot rides with a lot of climbing. I've
tried many preventative things including hydrating heavily before and during ride and loading up
with electrolytes via V-8 and bananas before ride. Recently I've been trying quinine in tonic water
mixed with orange juice. During the ride I pop 3-4 Hammer Gel Endurolyte capsules every hour or so
with lots of water. They provide a mix of eltrolytes needed for proper muscle function. All of these
things seem to delay and minimize the severity of my cramps, but I still get them on really long
climbing rides (100+ miles and 7,000 ft+). I used to stop immediately at the slightest hint of a
cramp. My quads, hamstrings, and calves would seize up so violently and painfully on stopping that I
was immobilized and often couldn't get back on the bike for a hour or so. Now I try to ride through
the incipient cramp, placing as little force on the offending leg as possible, preferably spinning
out the cramp. This seems to work and I'm usually able to get back without stopping.

Finally, I've found that the way that I climb is a factor. I'm a pretty weak climber and am more
likely to get cramps if I push hard on the hills, usually trying to stay up with a stronger rider.
I'm much less likely to cramp up if I sit back, relax, and spin up hills in my granny gear.

Quoted message said:

What do you all do for leg cramps during a ride? Sure, you could always

get

Quoted message said:

off and take the time out to stretch, but what if you are bent on getting there? Should I just
take the downtime and stop and stretch? I try and stretch before and after a ride. I've been told
to always have a bananna handy and eat that for the leg cramps. I don't particularly like banannas
though. Any other suggestions? Any help is appreciated.

Drink lots, more than you think you need to. If you don't like bananas (I don't either), try a drink
like Cytomax. In general, if I drink enough Cytomax, I'm cramp-free. Ironically, it's on cooler days
where I'm more likely to cramp, because I don't drink enough.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles chainreactionbicycles.comchainreactionbicycles.comOpen ↗

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

What do you all do for leg cramps during a ride? Sure, you could always get off and take the time
out to stretch, but what if you are bent on getting there? Should I just take the downtime and
stop and stretch? I try and stretch before and after a ride. I've been told to always have a
bananna handy and eat that for the leg cramps. I don't particularly like banannas though. Any
other suggestions? Any help is appreciated.

The banana recommendation is for potassium. Keep your fluid, salt and potassium intake up (from
whatever source you like), and that can at least dealy the onset of cramps, if not eliminate them
completely.

--
David Kerber An optimist says "Good morning, Lord." While a pessimist says "Good Lord,
it's morning".

Remove the ns_ from the address before e-mailing.

"archer" <ns_archer1960@ns_hotmail.com> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

What do you all do for leg cramps during a ride? Sure, you could always

get

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

off and take the time out to stretch, but what if you are bent on

getting

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

there? Should I just take the downtime and stop and stretch? I try and stretch before and after
a ride. I've been told to always have a bananna handy and eat that for the leg cramps. I don't
particularly like

banannas

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

though. Any other suggestions? Any help is appreciated.

The banana recommendation is for potassium. Keep your fluid, salt and potassium intake up (from
whatever source you like), and that can at least dealy the onset of cramps, if not eliminate them
completely.

--
David Kerber An optimist says "Good morning, Lord." While a pessimist says "Good Lord, it's
morning".

Remove the ns_ from the address before e-mailing.

Use light salt -- it contains potassium. I add it to various foods, and I guess you could add it to
water also.

--
Bob ctviggen at rcn dot com

<[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

What do you all do for leg cramps during a ride? Sure, you could always get off and take the time
out to stretch, but what if you are bent on getting there? Should I just take the downtime and
stop and stretch? I try and stretch before and after a ride. I've been told to always have a
bananna handy and eat that for the leg cramps. I don't particularly like banannas though. Any
other suggestions? Any help is appreciated.

Latest research seems to indicate that exercise induced muscle cramping is not due to electrolyte
deficiencies, so the traditional banana isn't going to help. Once cramps have started, it's
virtually impossible to stop them from continuing to occur, if you keep exercising the same muscles.
Stretching helps (during cramping episodes), but the best strategy is to prevent cramping in the
first place. Cramping is basically a consequence of muscular fatigue. Conditioning is the only real
solution, but you can delay the onset during long rides by avoiding loading the muscles hard for
even brief intervals. This means you should go easy on the hills, spinning at a higher cadence, this
keeps the peak force (muscular & pedal) down, which delays the onset of muscle fatigue.

In article Sc5ya.31155$rt6.12207@sccrnsc02 said:

Latest research seems to indicate that exercise induced muscle cramping is not due to electrolyte
deficiencies, so the traditional banana isn't going to help.

That's been my own experience. I generally get enough electrolytes, but still occasionally
experience leg cramps.

Quoted message said:

Once cramps have started, it's virtually impossible to stop them from continuing to occur,

When the pain and discomfort of a cramp subsides, there often seems to be a lingering, latent
tightness, waiting for it's next opportunity to strike. The cramp ain't finished yet.

Quoted message said:

if you keep exercising the same muscles. Stretching helps (during cramping episodes),

What works best for me is to sit down somewhere and relax the affected leg. With my crude attempt at
biofeedback, I try to focus relaxation on the affected area, to give the cramp permission to go
ahead, and hurry up and get the process over with, as completely as possible. I find fighting
against cramps just prolongs the agony. Pathological processes seem to have a way of not relenting
until their purpose has been fulfilled.

Quoted message said:

but the best strategy is to prevent cramping in the first place. Cramping is basically a
consequence of muscular fatigue. Conditioning is the only real solution, but you can delay the
onset during long rides by avoiding loading the muscles hard for even brief intervals. This means
you should go easy on the hills, spinning at a higher cadence, this keeps the peak force (muscular
& pedal) down, which delays the onset of muscle fatigue.

Sounds reasonable to me. When I get a cramp, it usually occurs when making a very rapid transition
between extremes of muscular tension and relaxation. So if I've been exerting hard, if I can
gradually ease up on my effort, I'm less likely to get cramps.

cheers, Tom

--
-- Powered by FreeBSD Above address is just a spam midden. I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn
[point] bc [point] ca

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

"archer" <ns_archer1960@ns_hotmail.com> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

What do you all do for leg cramps during a ride? Sure, you could always

get

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

off and take the time out to stretch, but what if you are bent on

getting

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

there? Should I just take the downtime and stop and stretch? I try and stretch before and
after a ride. I've been told to always have a bananna handy and eat that for the leg cramps. I
don't particularly like

banannas

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

though. Any other suggestions? Any help is appreciated.

The banana recommendation is for potassium. Keep your fluid, salt and potassium intake up (from
whatever source you like), and that can at least dealy the onset of cramps, if not eliminate
them completely.

--
David Kerber An optimist says "Good morning, Lord." While a pessimist says "Good Lord, it's
morning".

Remove the ns_ from the address before e-mailing.

Use light salt -- it contains potassium. I add it to various foods, and I guess you could add it
to water also.

I didn't know that. What form is it in, Potassium Chloride?

--
David Kerber An optimist says "Good morning, Lord." While a pessimist says "Good Lord,
it's morning".

Remove the ns_ from the address before e-mailing.

Wow! Thanks all for the great advice! I'll definitely be trying some of those suggestions out. Seems
like though, one of the most important things is to make sure my conditioning needs to be better. I
can work on that over time. The other thing is to make sure I am always keeping up with hydration
and electrolytes. Thanks again all for the advice!