Leg Cramps

[Cycology]

Ok, I'm a bit stupid, but yesterday I tried to cylce 100km without any previous training. I'm just an amateur, and hadnt cylced very far before. I had cramps after about 50km. I would ride and all of a sudden i would get this sharp pain in my leg, so i would stop and rest for a while, but as i kept going, it got worse, untill after about 80km, i could hardly even walk. A friend says salt and water helps, is this true? I'm thinking maybe I should have just trained a bit beforehand. I had the energy to go on, but my legs hurt too much. Any Advice?

 

[Smartt/RST]

Ok, I'm a bit stupid, but yesterday I tried to cylce 100km without any previous training. I'm just an amateur, and hadnt cylced very far before. I had cramps after about 50km. I would ride and all of a sudden i would get this sharp pain in my leg, so i would stop and rest for a while, but as i kept going, it got worse, untill after about 80km, i could hardly even walk. A friend says salt and water helps, is this true? I'm thinking maybe I should have just trained a bit beforehand. I had the energy to go on, but my legs hurt too much. Any Advice?

Electrolyte imbalance is one possible mechanism of muscle cramping, but it's not always the cause. For example, if you picked up an instrument you had never played and went at it long enough, your hands/fingers would start to cramp, having never broken a sweat. The other mechanism is unfamiliar training loads, which is certainly one aspect of what you have experienced. In the end, there is no one answer as to why it happens, and sometime we have no idea why muscles cramp at all. Best things to do are increase your training load gradually and ingest electrolytes when training (mainly sodium chloride - sea salt!).

 

[Cycology]

Yeah, maybe i should have just increased the ride lengths more gradually. So salt works then?

 

[Smartt/RST]

Yeah, maybe i should have just increased the ride lengths more gradually. So salt works then?

Most americans have enough salt in their diets for any workout of 1-2hrs (unless it's in very hot/humid conditions). However, supplementing 200-500mg/hr is a common practice during longer workouts and in hot conditions (the more you sweat, which is an individual trait as well as being related to environmental temperature and humidity, the more you need). It's no guarantee that you won't cramp, but it will help retain fluids (this is a good thing) and stimulate thirst (also a good thing) and sodium and chloride are the two electrolytes that you excrete the most (by far) when perspiring. Do look at your diet as a whole before following the guidelines above; if you consume a lot of salt normally (e.g.: 2000mg/day) then you shouldn't need anymore than is in your everyday sports drink.

 

[Cycology]

Thanks for that. I do have a lot of salt in my diet, but maybe the heat (34C) and me being new at the sport still meant i wasnt having enough.