John Forrest Tomlinson wrote:
> On 5 May 2007 11:56:29 -0700, 41 <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
> >So, to repeat: try stretching on a regular basis. That typically
> >eliminates cramping problems.{
>
> Thanks for the info on salt. But how is it that when I started taking
> salt tablets I began getting less cramps? Is it a placebo effect? The
> cramping would be late in races when I can barely remember my own
> name, let alone whether or not I took salt.
For riders who passed through a certain era, a wonderful and very
influential book was Karen and Gary Hawkins' Bicycle Touring in
Europe. Besides telling of over-the-top bicycles made of "Renolds
531", costing as much as $250 fully Campagnolo equipped, they also
informed us of the need to ingest huge quantities of salt during hot
weather riding, I think something like a salt pill every hour or two,
to avoid cramps. What the? Well, it was a different era, and maybe
ordinary salt consumption for on the cheap campers in Europe was much
less too. The Roman soldiers used to get paid in salt, from whence our
term "salary".
As for your experiences: there are only about a billion variables.
"Typically" means neither universally, nor exclusively. You don't say
what you drink or eat during the races, nor how long they are: under 4
hours? If so, it's really hard to believe that the cause is salt loss.
Note again though that electrolyte imbalance is a matter of
concentration, not total amount. It is possible to get hyponatremia by
drinking too much water. The matter then is not loss of salt, but gain
of water. So, what is needed is not the addition of salt tablets, but
the reduction of water intake. Or instead of plain water, a less
hypotonic solution. Medicine distinguishes about a half a dozen
specific types of hyponatremia, depending on whether it is fluid or
sodium going this way or thataway, and which one more or less.
Besides fluid intake, among the billion variables are medication, beer
intake, drug intake, and diarrhoea. Some people have naturally very
salty sweat. Consider one study: two groups under heavy cramp-
stimulating excercise, one getting sodium replacement drinks, the
other no fluid or sodium replacement at all. In fact more people in
the replacement group got cramps. However, their average time to first
cramp onset was greater.
If the cramps are very localized, say always in the calves or even
just one calf, or to the arch, etc., then one suspects all the more
that electrolyte imbalance is not the problem, and salt tablets not
the solution. One poster described night leg cramps; regular
stretching essentially always solves those. If the cramps are more
spread out, happening to many muscle groups, and especially if
associated with other symptoms of hyponatremia- a life-threatening
condition- then something is likely to be going wrong with the fluid/
sodium balance. Mental disturbance, like not being able to remember
one's own name, would be one of those other symptoms. In any case
though, regular stretching typically eliminates cramping problems. It
certainly gets rid of the cramp once you have it.
o