Cramping

[Justin]

Hi

 

 

 

My fitness is quite good at the moment, however, after about 2 hours or so of hard riding I can feel my legs wanting to cramp.

 

 

 

Is there some training I can do to stop this or should I take some supplement?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DaLoCo]

I cramp if I get lazy at drinking water....for me it is dehydration mostly. If I ride for 2 hrs I must at least finish of a full bottle of water.

[markStockton]

Some where I heard that sucking Rennies  helps.  

[Justin]

Hey, and they are the only sweets that don't give me heartburn!

 

 

 

I do drink a lot of water though...Justin2009-03-31 01:18:59

[TNOSE_E]

I have the same cramping problem... and have not found a solution yet.

 

Tried

..crampstop / cramp block

..drink more water

..stretch

..tissue salts

..train more/harder (some success here)

 

 

TNOSE_E2009-03-31 01:38:13

[Santa C]

loads of water, salt in your diet...and on the ride if you feel you cramping get cramp blocks from USN and take two...worked likea dream at Sani2c

[CAAD4]

Justin I used to get major cramps at 50km. Tried all the products, all rubbish. I even went to see a Doctor at the Tukkies Sports Science Institute for hectic blood tests to check my system. Nothing came up. She said train harder and longer. I did. It worked. I now have no more cramps and only use sports drinks if I know I might be out for more than 2/12 hours. Water works if your body gets used to it.

[Justin]

I must admit, I use to cramp earlier in a race than I do now.

 

 

 

So, its training, training, training...

[Brighter-Lights]

Intervals + Train Longer.

 

I usually cramp when riding flat out too long... K2C 2008 I pushed so hard to stay up front and did so much damage that with 20km to go I cramped so badly that I could hardly move... I've never cramped like that before and had sore legs 4 days after the event... it looked like my legs were deforming themselves... I could'nt sit or stand or move...

 

3 months of longer rides and a few hard races later, I did the Mondi MTB...

 

Again, I had to ride above my limits to stay with the leaders on the first steep climb... 40km into the race I started getting hints of slight cramping (not painfull cramping) and eased off slightly... because of the training before I could deal with the lactate better and rode through it...

 

In the end I came 4th... 6 mins behind Max Knox (considering I was riding a full suspension with hydration pack) and ahead of a few other pro's. 

 

That day my statistics were:

Total Ascent: 1805m
TRP DST 89.7km
Time: 3:39:16
AVG HR 180
Time above 180: 64%
KCAL 4444
Max SPD 63km/h

 

I rode so hard because most of the race I could see Shan Wilson ahead of me and Mr. Augustyn and the Anderson Transport guys were behind me and I was fearing for life that their train would catch me... (I was riding alone) Killed myself to impress my sponsor at the time...  

 

But what I'm trying to illustrate is that after long rides (was preparing for 24hrs Omni-Motion) I was able to deal with riding anearobicly much longer than previously and even when I started cramping early on, I was able to get rid of the waste effeciently and could maintain reasonable power after that. 

 

My long rides were around 5 hours average @ +- 75 to 90% with short (2 to 5 min) intervals of near 100% during these long rides...

 

Start by drinking enough water + electrolytes, then gradually do more anearobic work to condition your body for those conditions... soon you'll be cramping less and less... and remember that those harder efforts will require more recovery time into your programme...

Brighter-Lights2009-03-31 02:41:27

[Justin]

Thanks Brighter-Lights

 

 

 

Great insight into a common problem. I'll definitely start doing longer rides.

[Elvis]

I cramp on every race. It's part of my make-up. I've made peace with it. I train alot 10-12 hrs per week. Do a lot of 4-5 hour rides on saturdays. What I found works for me is just using cramp ease every hour. 5 min before the start of the race i take 3 and then 2 every hour after that. I still cramp but just powers through it and I'm fine. Maybe this will help.

[Justin]

Chatted to another guy that says Rennies help...Apparently in a minute or 2.

[dagwood]

Try endurolyte tablets from Hammer Nutrition they work well

[Reg Lizard]

During your ride just eat a bannana. I always do and I have only wanted to cramp once. Reg Lizard2009-03-31 03:07:50

[SwissVan]

 

Generally cramps in sport is your bodies way of telling you to slow down because it is not used to the effort you are asking of it. Therefore as suggested by some earlier posts you need to train harder to tech your body to adapt to it.

 

The mind is incredibly strong and if you belive that "crampgoaway" works for you well then so be it... I suspect that a lot of the nutrional supplements on SALE for preventing cramps are money spinners for the companies who produce them and are not needed by the average sports person.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scotty]

There was a sports nutritionist on SC who stated that there is no one  reason for cramps, pills such as cramp stop, magnesium etc are all hype and gimmick and that cramps has more to do with the muscle fibre heat up vs cooling down. Training is punted as the best remedy but still no sure fire solution and unfortunately due to genetic make up some are more likely to cramp than others.