Cramping - please help

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

easy. Be a seconder.

 

And if you don't want to be a seconder, do the base miles. Only thing that will increase efficiency and your ability to carry on going while at the same time using up less energy, thus producing less lactic acid (closer to threshold you are, the more you make - thus, train more, threshold gets higher...)

 

[Mak-daddy]

Hagar, it could be ENO.One of the medics gave me the samething,i was cramping like hell but it seem to have worked.And i certainly didnt have heart burn..Lol

[CAAD4]

I used to cramp and tried many products. Nothing helped. I even went to the Tukkies Sport Science Institue for blood and stress tests. No abnormalities were found. I trained harder and longer, lost weight and the cramps dissapeared. Even Tim Noakes has apparently said that there is no scientific evidence that products work. Generally it is due to muscle fatigue. Once it starts it's generally game over. Lots of walking and wishing the finish was closer.

[CaptainDura]

Scientists all over the world actually have no idea why people cramp.

 

The thing is it is different for everyone.  Some need magnesium, some need calcium, some need potassium etc etc.

 

The only thing that is common to all people is the fact that when they cramp, the ratios of the above mentioned are being influenced.

 

this means basically that some people for instance have lower magnesium values compared to the calcium or potassium they have to have in their body and they cramp.  Other people have the same magnesium levels but their calcium levels drop relatively to their magnesium.  

 

It seems it is a very delicate balance and it differs for all people.

 

Experiment with different things and find the one that works for you.

 

I used to cramp badly.  i tried everything including all the different magnesium meds and helpers i could find.  nothing helped.

 

then i started using rennies. this definitely helped but i still got the cramps every now and then... Then i added enos or citrus soda the night before and the morning before the race, and have my rennies handy during the race and my cramps have gone.

 

dont get me wrong. training harder for longer really makes a difference and even with the enos and rennies i can feel the cramps coming to the surface when i push myself harder than i am used to for longer.

 

So to everyone that get cramp, experiment with sal, potassium and magnesium to see which one relieves the cramping the most, and then train like mad to make sure you dont have to use it again.

 

 

[mdk555]

Raised the Q as I never cramp in the race and sometimes after the race but on the Karoo to Coast I cramped very badly. Funny enough but when we removed my leg warmer the cramping stopped.

[CaptainDura]

I used to cramp and tried many products. Nothing helped. I even went to the Tukkies Sport Science Institue for blood and stress tests. No abnormalities were found. I trained harder and longer' date=' lost weight and the cramps dissapeared. Even Tim Noakes has apparently said that there is no scientific evidence that products work. Generally it is due to muscle fatigue. Once it starts it's generally game over. Lots of walking and wishing the finish was closer.[/quote']

 

Muscle fatigue might come into play later on in a race, but i have cramped up in a 85 km mtb race after just 20ks, and not going harder than 80% on my hr monitor, only to do the next race the next weekend, going out harder at about 90% and not cramping at all.    so that statement does not hold water in all cases.    It has more to do with the delicate balance between the magnesium, potassium, sodium, calcium etc in your muscles.

 

So logic dictates that if you eat correctly your balance in your muscles should be fine.

 

Some interesting findings on the internet suggested that when you sweat you loose much more water than you do salt. this suggests that your sodium levels actually increases in your muscles because you sweat and become dehydryted. this might also impair the balance between mag, sodim etc etc.  some food for thought.

 

 

[Wallee]

I used Rennies for a while and they seemed to work well, but but then I read that taking them during exercise can cause kidney stones and other kidney problems. Does anyone know more about this?

[jabbathemutt007]

 

I used Rennies for a while and they seemed to work well' date=' but but then I read that taking them during exercise can cause kidney stones and other kidney problems. Does anyone know more about this?

[/quote']

 

Just take them with Chinese milk and you should be OK.