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pookie_me_3
Flogged
Joined: Jun 03, 2006
Posts: 2,100
Location: Belmont
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 Posted: Tue 16th Sep 10:19pm Post subject: |
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| ThingOne wrote: | Check your seat height.
I used to get cramp badly in races, till I was discussing it with someone who said my seat was too high, so lowered it a bit and no more cramping. When its too high you dont use all of your leg muscles and overwork certain ones. |
i will double check it but i tend to get cramp front and back both on my thighs and calfs
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HJ
Joined: Sep 16, 2008
Posts: 3
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| Posted: Tue 16th Sep 10:23pm Post subject: |
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Calcium & magnesium together: try dolomite tabs or powder - that's the right balance.... will help you sleep too (but not on a bike!!) - so take at night.
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Oli
Mangled
Joined: Aug 03, 2005
Posts: 32,158
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| Posted: Tue 16th Sep 10:49pm Post subject: |
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Are you well hydrated, Pookie? All the salt and supplements you're biffing down your neck will need diluting...
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SlackBoy
Mangled
Joined: Dec 25, 2001
Posts: 18,041
Location: Showing my tan lines
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| Posted: Tue 16th Sep 11:51pm Post subject: |
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I cramp real bad on peak fuel drink.
As I RE-discovered when I accidently necked back a cup of it at the top of devils this year instead of water.
Dopers hurt more than it should of
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jeremyb
BRAP BRAP BRAP BRAP
Joined: Jan 12, 2003
Posts: 32,882
Location: Derailled
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| Posted: Wed 17th Sep 8:55am Post subject: |
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I have major issues with cramping, my muscles have locked up in my legs on more than one occasion, seems to be due to over stimulation, cramp stop gives relief for a short while but the following things have made more of a difference in the past when I've been training seriously.
1. Stretch at night before bed
2. Lay off the sugar
3. Lower your seat height a tad
4. Don't drink too much water when riding, you dilute the good stuff, and don't bother with sports drinks, eat proper food, not that you need anything for rides < 2 hours...
Other than that theres not much else that works, some people swear by quikeze tablets, tried those too, with relative success, just delays the inevitable.
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jimmi
Scuffed
Joined: Aug 11, 2004
Posts: 383
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| Posted: Wed 17th Sep 9:33am Post subject: |
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Here's my anti cramp remedy:
1. Get fit
2. Stretch like a maniac. I do about 3 minutes stretching every day even if Im not riding
3. Stretch before and after every ride
4. Before a race I warm up then stretch for about 5-10 minutes.
5. Blackmores Bio Magnesium for 2 weeks before a race.
6. New era Mag Phos during the race if I start to feel cramps coming on. For the N-Duro's I took 4 every hour as a preventative and this seemed to work best.
7. Drink stacks of water.
I tend to cramp pretty easy too, but the above worked really well for the N-Duro's.
Good luck
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more_horse_link
Worn
Joined: Jun 14, 2007
Posts: 829
Location: Avoiding pies
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| Posted: Wed 17th Sep 9:44am Post subject: |
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| FST4RD wrote: | | I used to get cramps riding, in bed when sleeping etc.... |
that can also be a sign of over training...... tricky en it?
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ryda
GDB TTEC
Joined: Jan 30, 2006
Posts: 6,340
Location: driven' the Church Bus
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| Posted: Wed 17th Sep 10:43am Post subject: |
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bike shops have it...but honestly a slug of salty water will do that same....
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DrewBroadley
Dusty
Joined: Feb 11, 2008
Posts: 98
Location: Wellington/Manawatu
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| Posted: Wed 17th Sep 1:02pm Post subject: |
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Lack of salt can be one cause, hope that helps.
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RussS
Ridden
Joined: Aug 11, 2006
Posts: 162
Location: Hamilton, NZ
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| Posted: Wed 17th Sep 3:50pm Post subject: |
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I have to disagree with the salt theory - that is an old wives tale. What excess salt does is dessicate internal organs and make them less capable of functioning correctly.
There are some good suppliments out there and some not so good ones - the thing to look for is minimal sodium but good % of potassium, magnesium & calcium.
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DrewBroadley
Dusty
Joined: Feb 11, 2008
Posts: 98
Location: Wellington/Manawatu
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jeremyb
BRAP BRAP BRAP BRAP
Joined: Jan 12, 2003
Posts: 32,882
Location: Derailled
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| Posted: Wed 17th Sep 4:51pm Post subject: |
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Interesting stuff:
| Quote: | A problem with muscle cramps can sometimes be a problem with the muscle not being able to function properly due to a lack of proper electrolite balance. Potassium (K), Calcium (Ca), and Magnesium (Mg) are absolutely essential for a muscle to be able to properly fire....and to properly relax. If there is a lack of these minerals in the body, the muscle can temporarily lose the ability to relax and, therefore, cramps. Try taking K, Ca, and Mg suppliments regularly and see if that doesn't make a huge difference.
This could also be the effect of insulin resistance. I'm not sure of your weight or sugar intake, but if you have too much sugar or processed parc in your diet for a prolonged period of time, the body goes into what is called insulin resistance. Insulin is an anabolic hormone that also serves to store calcium and magnesium. Insulin resistance, by these means, can be a cause of not only muscle cramps, but osteoporosis and hypertension as well.
(If you think about it, the middle wall of your blood vessels is a muscle. If it can't relax, it becomes constricted. If the blood vessels become constricted, then the same amount of blood has to travel through an all around smaller maze of vessels. The result is hypertension or high blood pressure.)
(As far as osteoporosis goes, how many people have you ever heard of having osteoporosis, but being on a calcium supplement? It's not the amount of ingested calcium that causes a problem, it's the amount that the body loses from not being able to store it anywhere. Osteoporosis is a pH problem and a hormone problem, not a diet issue.) |
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RussS
Ridden
Joined: Aug 11, 2006
Posts: 162
Location: Hamilton, NZ
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| Posted: Wed 17th Sep 5:09pm Post subject: |
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I hear Tramadol is good for mentsrual cramps ... you could try that 
DrewBroadley - Weird that UoO subscribes to that theory. I was a guineapig at USC back when I was a pro motocrosser and they had figured the dangers of salt back then. Before that I used to use salt tablets but then again I was racing in 100F + temperatures in SoCal so salt loss was a real issue.
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FST4RD
Scuffed
Joined: Mar 14, 2007
Posts: 335
Location: Christchurch
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| Posted: Wed 17th Sep 5:19pm Post subject: |
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| i_ride_rigid wrote: | | FST4RD wrote: | | I used to get cramps riding, in bed when sleeping etc.... |
that can also be a sign of over training...... tricky en it? |
I thought that but then when I started eating banana's all the time they went away.... and reading further through the post it's recommended the lack of potassium can cause it... so probably that.
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scatter
More beige than usual
Joined: Jan 19, 2003
Posts: 9,259
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| Posted: Wed 17th Sep 5:59pm Post subject: |
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| RussS wrote: | | DrewBroadley - Weird that UoO subscribes to that theory. I was a guineapig at USC back when I was a pro motocrosser and they had figured the dangers of salt back then. Before that I used to use salt tablets but then again I was racing in 100F + temperatures in SoCal so salt loss was a real issue. |
Depends what they classify as "salt"
The chlorides of potassium, magnesium, sodium and calcium are all salts.
It's just that sodium chloride is what we know as the "salt" that we have on our table
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