Cramp / Cramps / Cramping

Ha! Yes love.....but only because I'm prone on the couch, not daring to so much as twitch my left leg....the right one is fine, but the left is teetering on the brink of cramping again!
Can you go get me cider from the fridge, treacle?

Saucy cunt.

Best I can do, is a brisk rub down with a damp copy of the Sporting Life.

inner thigh, starting just above the knee, and going midway up my inner hamstring..

Ooof... I used to get that, back when I actually rode my bike for more than a couple of hours.

Come on then, I'm just oiling up.....!
Honest, the left one went again about 20 mins ago, and had me hopping around the front room wailing! The left one is displaying symptoms now.....I've had a fuck load of salty stuff, loads of water, and am trying the old crunchy nut cornflake technique now!

the old crunchy nut cornflake technique now!

Filth

I was covered when my front mudguard self destructed.....if that's what you mean! :0)

Ooo, ya bugger....the left inner hamstring one is back tonight. I keep thinking about the LEL'ers and TCR'ers doing some massive mileages, with no sleep, obviously going beyond suffering, and me, a piddling little 60 mile jaunt to the forest leaving me whimpering on the couch, afraid to go upstairs in case it strikes on the left leg up bit......fucking ouch!

Best solution I know for cramp is to punch the muscle when it goes into spasm.

Ha! Euph? 👊💦

Suffer pretty regularly with cramping on 50km plus fixed rides.

Usually it'll show up when I start to spin down hill.

Really not a banana fan* so need another solution.

Uusally just carry water in my bottles, maybe I should be bunging a tablet (Nuun etc) in there too?

*Been consuming a few more bananas than usual recently as I just bought a blender and have been chucking them in smoothies. Anyone know what the half life of their anti-cramp properties is? Ie, if I have a banana in a smoothy today, will it be of any benefit when I go out for a ride tomorrow/the day after or does the banana need to be consumed at the time of exercise?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana_equivalent_dose

(The relevant bit is at the end:

Other food rich in potassium (and therefore in 40K) include potatoes, kidney beans, sunflower seeds, and nuts.[18][19] Brazil nuts in particular are not only rich in 40K but may also contain significant amounts of radium, which have been measured at up to 444 Bq/kg (12 nCi/kg).

Fill your bidons with loose mash. )

Cool, like all of those.

Would still be interested to know if consuming bananas day to day but not at time of exercise will be of benefit.

Tubes of 20 High5 rehydration tabs £2.99 in my local Lidl today - various flavours. (Also some of the gels, protein bars, other stuff.)

I've always struggled with cramps on longer rides, and this year I've been ramping up my endurance training for an event at the end of May. During these rides, cramps have been a real problem for me. Last Saturday I rode 90km with 2800m of climb, and I had to stop because of cramps 3 times.

I use OTE hydration tablets in my bidons at the start of the ride, then as that runs out I fill up with normal water while out on the road. I also try to take a saltstick tablet around once every hour or 2, and eat salty food as often as I can (either salted peanuts or crisps). I've also recently cut down my general salt intake through food during the week. I used to salt all my food, whereas I've now stopped salting anything I prepare myself.

None of this really seems to be working to prevent cramps. I read the article from the previous page (https://deadspin.com/everything-you-know-about-cramps-is-wrong-and-gatorade-1587102837), and so I'll try to do better at regulating my body heat in the future.

Any other tips for practical things I can try to do to prevent the cramps?

This relates to low carb/ketogenic diets but recommends supplementing with magnesium to help with cramps. I've not tried this as HIGH5 tabs seemed to sort out the cramping issues I had a few years ago but might be worth investigating*.

*Standard IANAD rules apply.

Hmmm, interesting!

I checked out the High 5 tablets, and they have more potassium, magnesium, sodium, and vitamin C than the OTE tablets. The OTE ones do have more calcium, though.

I'll get hold of some of them and give them a go this weekend. If that doesn't work, I'll give the Slow-Mag recommendation from your link a go (I'm a little more reluctant as that seems a lot more expensive, but if it solves the problem, it'll be worth it!)

Thanks for your suggestions!

Purely anecdotal, but I used to take magnesium when I'd be doing long rides for a couple consecutive days, definitely made a difference in terms of cramps (barely got any, whereas without magnesium, I'd be pretty sure to cramp up at least once per day). Completely normal diet with plenty carbs.

Oh my god thank you! Switching to high 5 tabs let me have a hilly but non crampy ride today. I'm so happy to have found something that actually works!

That's great to hear!

So pickle juice seems to be making some headlines. From what I’ve read nothing to do with what’s in it more how your body reacts to it at the onset of cramps.
Anyone seen or read anything detailed?

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19997012
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2742453/
https://www.healthline.com/health/pickle-juice-for-cramps

Personally I find pickle juice works best when combined with bourbon.

#pickleback

Yeah pretty much what I’d previously read. It resonates with me as when I had gastrointetis (!?) I’d get cramps then vomit. The vomiting would seemingly cease the cramping.