severe cramps

Try eating things with a bit of salt in them before and after....

Drink Pickle Juice!!!....works for me 🙂

why pickle juice?

I really cant tell you "why" it works. I was just told this by an OLD football coach. I have been doing it ever since. It really works for me.

rockster305 said:

why pickle juice?

Its got more than enough salt and other electrolytes that helps in preventing cramps. Also try putting half to one teaspoon of salt in your beverage especially during warm days. This prevents loss of electrolytes whihc lead to cramps. Good luck!

rockster305 said:

😕 can anyone out there help me. im suffering with severe cramps to my hamstring at the later part of races and in some cases it forces me to stop. im trying carb drinks with electrolytes but the problem is still there. has anyone else suffered this and if so what did you do to prevent it. hope you can help.

when i get cramps, i just drink a lot of extra water, but I'm not 100% sure if it works, or if the cramps just go away on their own but i do it anyway. sry i can't be of more help.

Magnesium tablets fix it. Keep a couple wrapped in foil in your pocket and as soon as you start to feel like you might be cramping take a couple.

What if none of that works? I had hard days where it was reallly hot outside, and salt and potassium just didn't cut it.. OR WATER...I drank and consumed all those things, but I STILL cramped up even after stretching. What am I missing here??? Any thoughts? Hopefully this old thread will be ressurected for advice!

K50 said:

What if none of that works? I had hard days where it was reallly hot outside, and salt and potassium just didn't cut it.. OR WATER...I drank and consumed all those things, but I STILL cramped up even after stretching. What am I missing here??? Any thoughts? Hopefully this old thread will be ressurected for advice!

I don't believe that anyone truly understands why we cramp. I too suffer badly in warm weather. I've tried about everything with varying degrees of success without any real solution. 2 things that I believe are an indicator of my cramp issues:
1. I persire heavily in hot weather. I easily lose 6 lbs or more in a 3 hr. ride
2. I lose a lot of salts in my perspiration. My limbs, face and clothing all have a white "crust" on them from my perspiration

I've tried adding salt to my sport drink - yuck & it doesn't really work. I've tried "HEED" from Hammer and it seems to have a positive effect (delay the onset of cramps and not as severe) but it doesn't really solve for cramping.

Looking for more info,
DK

dkrenik said:

I don't believe that anyone truly understands why we cramp. I too suffer badly in warm weather. I've tried about everything with varying degrees of success without any real solution. 2 things that I believe are an indicator of my cramp issues:
1. I persire heavily in hot weather. I easily lose 6 lbs or more in a 3 hr. ride
2. I lose a lot of salts in my perspiration. My limbs, face and clothing all have a white "crust" on them from my perspiration

I've tried adding salt to my sport drink - yuck & it doesn't really work. I've tried "HEED" from Hammer and it seems to have a positive effect (delay the onset of cramps and not as severe) but it doesn't really solve for cramping.

Looking for more info,
DK

Yeah I'm the same way. I lose 3lbs in 2 hours, and sweat a lot in heavy weather leaving the white lines along the collar and pits of my jersey...

What about those Amino Acids drinks? They sound like a good idea from what I've read on the label at least hehe. They have an extensive ingredient list of other minor nutrients and vitamins that may deplete in endurance events. I might have to try one this summer. When I do, I'll let you know how it goes, but until then, maybe someone has some insight to the effectiveness...

There are so many things one could try. The simplest solution is hydration. And I don't mean *just* water. In addition, I don't mean drinking only after you've started riding. It will take some trial and error, but drinking well BEFORE a ride, especially in hot weather, DURING and AFTER (yes, after) will go a long way towards helping.

So, in my case, I'm drenched in hot weather from sweating. I keep potassium and magnessium pills on hand one my rides. I also use cytomax instead of gatorade. If you have to use gatorade, go with the endurance formula as it's got more potassium, sodium and carbs.

There are many different scientific explanations for why one gets cramps. And each person's tolerance/resistance is different, so experiment till you find something that works for you. But the key is *proper* hydration/nutrition around your rides (i.e. before, during, and to some extent, after). I don't think stretching has too much to do with it.

FrankBattle said:

There are so many things one could try. The simplest solution is hydration. And I don't mean *just* water. In addition, I don't mean drinking only after you've started riding. It will take some trial and error, but drinking well BEFORE a ride, especially in hot weather, DURING and AFTER (yes, after) will go a long way towards helping.

So, in my case, I'm drenched in hot weather from sweating. I keep potassium and magnessium pills on hand one my rides. I also use cytomax instead of gatorade. If you have to use gatorade, go with the endurance formula as it's got more potassium, sodium and carbs.

There are many different scientific explanations for why one gets cramps. And each person's tolerance/resistance is different, so experiment till you find something that works for you. But the key is *proper* hydration/nutrition around your rides (i.e. before, during, and to some extent, after). I don't think stretching has too much to do with it.

What does Magnesium do?

FrankBattle said:

There are so many things one could try. The simplest solution is hydration. And I don't mean *just* water. In addition, I don't mean drinking only after you've started riding. It will take some trial and error, but drinking well BEFORE a ride, especially in hot weather, DURING and AFTER (yes, after) will go a long way towards helping.

So, in my case, I'm drenched in hot weather from sweating. I keep potassium and magnessium pills on hand one my rides. I also use cytomax instead of gatorade. If you have to use gatorade, go with the endurance formula as it's got more potassium, sodium and carbs.

There are many different scientific explanations for why one gets cramps. And each person's tolerance/resistance is different, so experiment till you find something that works for you. But the key is *proper* hydration/nutrition around your rides (i.e. before, during, and to some extent, after). I don't think stretching has too much to do with it.

What does Magnesium do?

K50 said:

What does Magnesium do?

Oh I dunno if it does anything really. It's just one of the electrolytes I've experimented with. Seems to work. But it may be a placebo effect.

That said, magnesium is sometimes used to relieve leg cramps. It has been shown in some studies that low clacium/magnesium causes leg cramps ..

That's really why I started to use it.

A couple things. Propensity to cramping can be related to age, conditioning, metabolism (how quickly your body depletes electrolytes at different levels of effort), alcohol consumption, just to name a few. I have found the Crank Sport gel and drink to be very effective, when used with proper hydration and nutrition before, during, and after the ride. The Hammer eCaps are also GREAT in conjunction with the Cranksport protocol.

Sweet. Thanks for the advice guys, I really appreciate that. Because I know there'll be some tough-ass days this year where I'll be wishing I had some magic cure for cramps. I'll try those out and see how it goes. I always thought that diet and stretching would cover it. But the deeper you get, the more care you have to take about these things I guess...

Someone mentioned Hammer HEED. Hammer Nutrition also makes E-Caps or Endurolytes for cramp prevention. In hot weather, the advice is to take 3 or more E-Caps per hour along with HEED or Hammer Sustained Energy or Perpetuem. Hammer products are popular with ultra cyclists and triathletes. The Hammer Nutrition website has a lot of info.

John G.

Not crazy about HEED, but E-Caps are a legitimate lifesaver.

wahoodoggydoo said:

Someone mentioned Hammer HEED. Hammer Nutrition also makes E-Caps or Endurolytes for cramp prevention. In hot weather, the advice is to take 3 or more E-Caps per hour along with HEED or Hammer Sustained Energy or Perpetuem. Hammer products are popular with ultra cyclists and triathletes. The Hammer Nutrition website has a lot of info.

John G.

larrynipon said:

Not crazy about HEED, but E-Caps are a legitimate lifesaver.

Odd that nobody mentioned the possibility that the OP's hamstrings weren't up to the task of handling the many, many little accelerations done in the saddle during many criteriums. Make sure you stretch your hamstrings after your warmup and sometimes during the race. Standup with your feet parallel to the ground and bend at the hips so your chin is very near your bars. Drop the heel of your rear leg. Rotate your cranks 180 degrees and repeat with the other leg.

Do a few of the accelerations out of the saddle just to loosen up a bit.

Do more tempo and threshold intervals on long climbs while in the saddle.

You could try intervals on flat road with 10" hard acceleration in the saddle in something like a 39 x14 or 13, 50 deconds recovery, go again for up to 5-7 times. Rest 3-4' and repeat up to 4-5 times total. When you work up to where you can do 30 of these little accelerations in one session you'll handle the race accelerations better and improve some aspects of your fitness too.