[Closed] Dealing with cramp

About to be shot down in flames...
Electrolyte drinks work for me.

Drink lots, before during and after, and I use Crampex tablets.

Bananas?
Get fitter?
Get fitted?

Down a bottle of tonic minus the gin beforehand. The quinine in the tonic is meant to work wonders. I tried it a couple of times and it did work but whether this was down to the tonic or weather conditions, my fitness etc who knows. Only one way for you to find out....

I already use electrolyte tabs - before during and after!
Warming up/down in compression wear seemed to help last year - knocked it on the head this year but I might have to go back to it.

Get fitter?

I'm hearing this a lot.
I do already train quite a bit - need some extra hours adding to the week.

As far as back cramps go - more core strengthening exercises?

Down a bottle of tonic minus the gin beforehand. The quinine in the tonic is meant to work wonders.

I'd heard of this before, but forgotten about it! Might give that a crack, cheers!

On long rides stuff like SIS and High 5 worked for me. I used to do 7hr Trailquests and that was all I drank.

Sub 2hr rides - just water and a bit of squash.

Cod Liver Oil. Take it in capsule form if you really don't like the taste. I used to get terrible knee cramps with hill walking and still get leg cramps with prolonged cycling. I find if I take Cod Liver Oil for a few days beforehand I don't get cramps.

I'm hearing this a lot.
I do already train quite a bit - need some extra hours adding to the week.

As far as back cramps go - more core strengthening exercises?

I have never suffered with cramp on the bike. Perhaps I don't ride hard enough? I dunno, sometimes I get it in bed though.

If you train quite alot, then I doubt it's lack of fitness?

Which part of your legs cramp?

Never heard of back cramp either! Could be a seat too high or bars too low or something? Is it MTBIng or Roadying?

I used to suffer from pretty nasty cramp in my thighs and calves. I'd get it at night after riding, would jump out of bed with one leg locked solid only for the other one to go and I'd end up on the floor in agony! It must have looked amusing from the outside. It got better as I got fitter and as I improved my core and balanced out my exercise so I wasn't just working one set of muscles riding. Now I hardly ever get cramp (other than my feet weirdly). Last time I did was in my calf a day or so after running a marathon which I put down to being a little bit ****ed.

Its XC - racing specifically.
I don't get cramp while I'm riding too often - occaiionally on the last lap but not too much these days.

My back is my weakest link and I'm working on strengthening my core. It is normally my limiting factor in races, rather than dead legs or bursting lungs.

Sunday was the first time I've ever had cramp in my back - my lumbar region specifically.
And as for my legs if they start to cramp in races it'll be the tendon on the outside behind my knee (technical term for you there), but after races it'll start at my instep and then go up my calf to the inside of my thigh!

Cod Liver Oil.

When training we naturally focus on the primary muscle groups - those that let us do the activity we are training for. But we also need to train the secondary muscle groups - those that maintain alignment and posture.

I had hip & knee problems which meant I was recruiting my adductors (inside of knee to groin) rather than my quads so I'd get cramp in them. Once I sorted the hip and knee out I would still get cramp in the adductors, usually after about eight or nine hours riding. A search for both exercises and stretches for the muscles concerned seems to have fixed things (will find out next weekend for sure)

Edit: Tendons cramp?

I sometimes get it after a big ride or race (well I'm more of a moving obstacle so race seems a little overkill). Sometimes it will be because I'm sitting on my arse for too long, stand up and both legs (calves) go into cramp. The other scenario is as you describe jumping out of bed at 2am and doing the cramp dance.

I've found the following reduce it for me:

1. Drink electrolyte drinks on big rides. May be a placebo I don't know but it appears to help.

2. Stretch well after a ride/race and keep moving. Even if it's just to walk to the fridge to get a beer every 30 minutes.

3. Keep warm in bed. Now normally I sleep in my birthday suit but I've found wearing some PJ bottoms appears to help keep the leg cramp at bay. I assume it's the additional warmth.

Never had back cramp but that does sound like a poor position and as you mention yourself your lower back is a weak point.

Good luck.

Edit: Tendons cramp?

Yeah that's the best way I can describe it - they go tight and pingy. And painful.
But that's not the issue, it's the actual full on rolling on the floor muscle death after races I was after help with!

When training we naturally focus on the primary muscle groups - those that let us do the activity we are training for. But we also need to train the secondary muscle groups - those that maintain alignment and posture.

That's it nailed.

Move your cleats further rearwards.
Get some arch support.
Lower your saddle.

Also, try some flat pedals and shoes.

Get some arch support.

Got that - I switched a couple of years back to Giro shoes as they have 3 different supports with them.

Lower your saddle.

I already run it a bit lower than my roadbike.

try some flat pedals and shoes.

For racing!?

Got that - I switched a couple of years back to Giro shoes as they have 3 different supports with them.

Might not be enough. Nowhere near enough for me.

Do you get cramp on the road bike?

No, but outside of some club 10's I don't do any racing on the roadbike.
I don't get cramp all the time by any means, just after big efforts in races.

Sorry, but get fitter. I used to suffer from it really badly, anything over 2 hours exercise and it would hit, I tried electrolyte's, tonic water, stretching, warming up, bananas you name it, I tried it. Not a single thing stopped it.

Then I started training for a specific event and got really quite fit...and it stopped. It's now my gauge of fitness, when I get it I know I need to work on fitness levels.

Edit, and the fitness needs to be related to the activity you get it in. If an XC race is 2 hours at threshold, you need to be training for 2h15m at threshold.

How do I deal with cramp?

Usually by rolling about on the floor screaming. 😉

davidtaylforth - Member
Move your cleats further rearwards.
Get some arch support.
Lower your saddle.
Also, try some flat pedals and shoes.

Can you not bypass all of that by simply going on a skills course?

The fancy drinks never seemed to work for me. On the other hand, 50:50 fruit juice and water with some salt in seems to be doing the job nicely

I suffer from leg cramp quite often on any ride that involves climbs. I do wonder if my single 11 ring set up is too taxing on my legs. I drink plenty of water and do Crossfit 3 times a week so my fitness is good. I guess everyone is different and I think my legs are just prone to cramp. Its bloody annoying and embarrassing when you just fall to the floor in agony in front of people. I'm going to try the tonic water or electrolyte tablets to see if that helps but I doubt it will.

Drinking lots could be counter-productive unless the drink includes electrolytes *if* low electrolyte concentrations is the cause of the cramp. You are replacing water but not ions, thus diluting those electrolytes you have left. Not drinking anything is of course not a long-term solution (pun kind of half intended) but might work for shorter events. For longer events you will need to drink, and your drink should contain electrolytes. Or you could snack on pork scratchings as you go.

Do you train at race intensity and for a similar duration to a race? Or just do a mix of lower intensity endurance rides + short high intensity intervals (in different sessions)? If the latter you probably need to work in more longer race intensity efforts (unless you're already racing weekly in which case that should be taking care of itself) or at least add some intervals into your longer sessions.

I generally do hourish sessions at high intensity with some 30-60 minute turbo interval stuff, some 30 minute flat out sessions on my commute and a couple of social rides per week. Once the season is underway I'm normally doing a 10 TT every week with XC races every 2-4 weeks. I seem to rely on the social rides for endurance stuff. Normally I ride around 8-10 hours/week.

I tend to drink a bottle of Supermalt after an arduous ride, usually get home finish what's in the bottle on the bike, stick the kettle on have a pint of milk and grab a snack, ,I don't get Cramp if I drink the Malt Drink.

By the time I've drunk that lot I usually run upstairs cross legged turn the shower on and piss like a race horse.

Deal with cramp in bed by sticking your head under the duvet and inhaling your own CO2. It works.

Prevent it on the road by putting an electrolyte tab in your bottle.

I tend to drink a bottle of Supermalt after an arduous ride

I read that as single malt!

Personally I would go for the fitness answer over the electrolyte drink answer although dehydration can be a cause if it is after races. As another thought I get "restless" legs after racing. Stretching doesn't really help but I have a massage stick and foam roller. Using those does.

Get fitter?

I don't think it's that simple, you're asking a specific set of muscles to work very hard for quite a while, it's that you need to address not "fitness" per se

you probably need to concentrate on those muscles a bit more is all.

Tried everything (including the being fit as f@#$ thing).
30-60 minutes afterwards and very rarely during.
Lying prostrate on the ground swearing like Billy Connelly tourettes usually helped in some small way.

drink pickle juice when it hits.

Have you googled cramps? I did after a repeated bout of cramps, tried electrolytes and a lot of the suggestions mentioned in this thread. After googling this one particular suggestion kept coming up....... I am no expert but as I understand it the cramping is a neural reaction and by taking a two teaspoons of cider vinegar, one teaspoon of honey mixed into a glass of warm water kids the system that you have the necessary balance of chemicals and you shouldn't be cramping and it stops very quickly and in my experience doesn't come back. I suggested this to my brother in law who was a confirmed Crampex taker but couldn't get any, worked for him as well.

As I have already sai I am no expert and I might not have got the medical reasoning correct but google it and you will find out what I am on about!

The most common cause for muscle cramps is down to subjecting the affected muscle with a more intensive work load than it is used to. In your specific case of mainly occurring after races this fits the scenario where you will be pushing yourself harder and beyond your standard threshold. Your back issue sounds like it's posture related and is more than likely a result of over compensation to stabilise in your riding position.

Two solutions would be:

1. To try a less head down riding position and look to address posture and core/lumbar strength and flexibility where I would prioritise flexibility first.

2. Climatise to race pace and increase muscle threshold of intensity of possible.

Hydration and nutrition should be a given.

Adam@BikeWorks - Member
I already use electrolyte tabs - before during and after!

Adam, this could be your issue. I had the same thing, so upped my dosage of electrolytes only for it to get worse. Have a google of "electrolyte tablets" and "magnesium poisoning".

The Tabs contain magnesium - you don't need many, I think 2 High 5 Tabs to get to the recommended limit. Guess what, one of the symptoms is cramp.

I replaced my with [url= http://www.myprotein.com/sports-nutrition/electrolyte-powder/10529892.html ]electrolyte powder[/url] from myprotien. Easy to measure the dosage and avoid the problem and super cheap at nearly 300 doses for £9.

No more cramp for me.

I was given a box of treats at Xmas which included a small bottle of electrolyte solution that is billed as anti-cramp stuff. I put a few drops of it in my camelbak and it seems to work. It came from a company called napiers herbalists.

I don't get as many cramps on the bike these days (diminished as fitness increased) but still get a lot of nighttime cramps in legs. Drinking more and staying warm definitely helps.

nuun tablets - they are anti-cramp magic.

Electrolyte drinks, if your still getting it drink more.

Worst advice ever ^^. Why not tell the guy to OD on caffiene while he's pushing his HR?

Be very careful loading up on electrolytes. Read about magnesium poising, look at the dosage, then go and have a look ar the dose per electrolyte tab.

Some more info here http://www.livestrong.com/article/507396-negative-effects-of-drinking-too-many-electrolytes/

Read about magnesium poising [sic]

this is very hard to do in healthy people with well functioning kidneys. the NHS recommend 300mg of magnesium daily. SIS Go tablets have 8.1mg in each tab.

I don't think it's a common source of cramps, too much magnesium might cause you to fart more or have diarrhoea, but cramp seems unlikely.

I reckon cramp down to genetics and how much you sweat and fitness levels ,I've suffered over the years and been at various fitness levels over the years to ,I've noticed as I've tried to get my fitness up or raced harder than I ride normally cramp happens .

I've had it about 3 month agony a 25 mile MTB ride but didn't drink enough so last few months I've made sure plenty water before I ride and a torq drink hour before then I've added Pink salt or tablytes to my bottles and made sure I had at least a bottle every hour and refilled at tea stops .

Not had it since been riding 30/40 mile MTB rides and 60/70 mile road rides

Some people never get cramp from riding some mates only drink I bottle over 3/4 hrs we all different

Was once walking up a hill I should have ridden in a long event due to cramp. A guy stopped to see if I was ok and when told the problem, gave me a sachet of Heinz tomato ketchup! It worked, I don't know why but within a few minutes was able to carry on.

I'm quite prone to cramp, more when fell running rather than cycling. Ive tried all sorts of potions and foods over the years and none worked for me. So my advice is like some others, be fitter and like whitestone said, train other muscle groups. Secondly, and for me most importantly, pace yourself. Anything over two hours I would consider to be endurance so limit your efforts to 80-85% max HR or pay the price later. Watch all those keen whippets run away from you at the start then reel them in over the next 5-6hrs. That'll learn 'em!

Well yesterday was a tough race with plenty of climbing and I seem to have survived it cramp free.

I went back to wearing some compress-sport socks before the race and afterwards the socks and some skins longs, which seems to have kept things in check.

I also changed my hydration from Powerbar electrolyte tabs to Torq Hypotonic. Not sure if this also helped, but I reckon the compression wear was key. My calfs were so twitchy post race it was like getting a massage!

FOG - Member
Was once walking up a hill I should have ridden in a long event due to cramp. A guy stopped to see if I was ok and when told the problem, gave me a sachet of Heinz tomato ketchup! It worked, I don't know why but within a few minutes was able to carry on.

Basically an off the shelf version of what the other guy said earlier about vinegar and honey in a drink,

Bit of a thread resurrection. My wife suggested I try some Body Shop Peppermint Reviving leg Gel. So I slathered some over my legs. Gives a nice tingly feeling although I wouldn't recommend getting it near your manhood! Anyway it certainly [b]seemed[/b] to help and I didn't get any leg cramp last night.

I was told potassium was best for cramp, so now I use Low sodium salt, which is half potassium.I put salt in everything
Butrecently I was told its Magnesium thats best,so the tablets are about 470mg a day.
I was getting cramps all over, riding dirtbikes,and swimming.
Worst thing was jumping in the pool,after a really hard days ride, I had to pull my self out of the water and lie there in pain
And for foot/leg cramp you can put your feet in a bowl of Epsom salts, so the magnesium gets absorbed through your skin

After starting to race enduros last year I found that i would get cramp after the second stage without fail. I followed all the advice above without any success. It was suggested to drink pickle juice which I thought was crazy however since I tried it the cramps went away.

Read this [url= http://itsthenerve.com/ ]itsthenerve[/url]

looking at my own cramp it makes sense. I can replicate the intensity of a race easily and get no cramp but as soon as the race is on i get cramp which suggests it's nothing to do with fitness but more to do with the added excitement/stress of a race.
I should try racing without again to make sure it is the pickle juice but cramp makes me cry so I won't
Drink some pickle juice after a race and before bed and see if it works. Just a mouth full should do.

A couple of Rennie tablets at the first sign of any twinges seem to work for me

Bananas, or any other potassium rich foods.

I found cramps went away when I drank more and stopped using electrolytes.

Simplistically the body tries to maintain an isotonic level - so if you keep you fluids topped up there's no need for additional electrolytes. Too high a ratio and you get cramps.

If you are not drinking enough then the salt ratio in your body rises and to keep the balance salt is excreted in your sweat. So drink more water to prevent that.