leg cramps at night, after cycling/exercising

It has been very hot and humid here of late. Couple days ago I just rode to
the library and back, maybe 10 miles but it was during the afternoon. And I
mowed some of my lawn with a reel mower human powered the same day.

That night had terrible leg cramp when tried to put down the recliner foot
support and got horrible shooting pain in my calf. I had tried to drink
lots of water (maybe 4-5 16 ounce glasses during the day) and ate half a
banana. Usually, eating a banana prevents the problem but not this time.
Funny, not so funny thing at the time, was I didn't even get the foot
support down it popped back up, so was stuck in the recliner with the foot
support up. Had to shimmy out trying to not bend my beg to make it cramp
again. After about 15 minutes made it to the fridge and ate half another
banana and drank a glass of water. But had the leg cramped again couple
times though not full blown searing pain.

What do you do to prevent leg calf cramps? And what do when you get one in
the middle of the night? I usually writhe in pain and try and massage it
and try to relax. Eventually, it stops.

On 07-19-2013 19:37, Gus wrote:
What do you do to prevent leg calf cramps? And what do when you get one
in the middle of the night? I usually writhe in pain and try and
massage it and try to relax. Eventually, it stops.

I've found that standing up helps a little. I guess making the muscle
do its normal job reduces its abnormal contraction. Not by much though.

Massage, too.

--
Wes Groleau

“Thinking I'm dumb gives people something to
feel smug about. Why should I disillusion them?�
— Charles Wallace
(in _A_Wrinkle_In_Time_)

"Gus" writes:

It has been very hot and humid here of late. Couple days ago I just
rode to the library and back, maybe 10 miles but it was during the
afternoon. And I mowed some of my lawn with a reel mower human
powered the same day.

That night had terrible leg cramp when tried to put down the recliner
foot support and got horrible shooting pain in my calf. I had tried
to drink lots of water (maybe 4-5 16 ounce glasses during the day) and
ate half a banana. Usually, eating a banana prevents the problem but
not this time. Funny, not so funny thing at the time, was I didn't
even get the foot support down it popped back up, so was stuck in the
recliner with the foot support up. Had to shimmy out trying to not
bend my beg to make it cramp again. After about 15 minutes made it to
the fridge and ate half another banana and drank a glass of water.
But had the leg cramped again couple times though not full blown
searing pain.

What do you do to prevent leg calf cramps? And what do when you get
one in the middle of the night? I usually writhe in pain and try and
massage it and try to relax. Eventually, it stops.

I get those, and that's what I do, too. Oddly, it's when I'm really
strong and in good shape for riding long and hard.

Hmm... Vegetables (got those magic phytochemicals)? Opiates?
Beer? Sex? Sleep? (I realize this latter is a bit of a catch-22.)

The body machine is a mysterious thing.

Trevor, what do you think?

STRETCHING EXERCISES ! there are manuals.

visit EXRX online

more fluids, fresh vegtables,.

On Friday, July 19, 2013 7:37:19 PM UTC-4, Gus wrote:

What do you do to prevent leg calf cramps? And what do when you get one in

the middle of the night?

As I said in another post, I do sometimes get after-ride leg cramps now. That never happened at all until age 50 or so. Occasionally, I have to sort of fight them off while riding, but that's fortunately rare.

After reading a lot on the subject of cramps, plus testing various remedies, here's my routine: First, my water bottles don't contain pure water. I put a few shakes of table salt, or (better, I think) salt substitute into my water. This is especially true on hot days.

Second, my after-ride drink is orange juice with added salt. For whatever reason, it tastes wonderful to me after a hot ride. I think it's giving me something I need (say, sodium & potassium).

Third, if I do get a cramp or the beginning of a cramp, a big spoonful of mustard seems to stop it within seconds. In fact, I now carry a few of those fast-food mustard packets, the thin plastic envelopes of mustard, in my handlebar bag. I can recall only once that I actually used one on a ride, but the stuff works so well for me that it's worth carrying.

The articles that recommended mustard pointed out that nobody seems to know why it works; but OTOH, cramping in general is poorly understood. It's unlikely that any chemical in the mustard makes it to the muscle, because when it works, mustard stops a cramp in seconds. But I guess I don't care much why it works. For me, it just does.

- Frank Krygowski

Frank Krygowski writes:

On Friday, July 19, 2013 7:37:19 PM UTC-4, Gus wrote:

What do you do to prevent leg calf cramps? And what do when you get one in

the middle of the night?

As I said in another post, I do sometimes get after-ride leg cramps now. That never happened at all until age 50 or so. Occasionally, I have to sort of fight them off while riding, but that's fortunately rare.

After reading a lot on the subject of cramps, plus testing various remedies, here's my routine: First, my water bottles don't contain pure water. I put a few shakes of table salt, or (better, I think) salt substitute into my water. This is especially true on hot days.

Second, my after-ride drink is orange juice with added salt. For whatever reason, it tastes wonderful to me after a hot ride. I think it's giving me something I need (say, sodium & potassium).

Third, if I do get a cramp or the beginning of a cramp, a big spoonful of mustard seems to stop it within seconds. In fact, I now carry a few of those fast-food mustard packets, the thin plastic envelopes of mustard, in my handlebar bag. I can recall only once that I actually used one on a ride, but the stuff works so well for me that it's worth carrying.

The articles that recommended mustard pointed out that nobody seems to know why it works; but OTOH, cramping in general is poorly understood. It's unlikely that any chemical in the mustard makes it to the muscle, because when it works, mustard stops a cramp in seconds. But I guess I don't care much why it works. For me, it just does.

I'll get cramps in the arches of my feet. After a hard ride I can
generally induce them by curling the foot down (this makes it hard to
stretch the quad, since a quad stretch tends to curl the foot and start
a cramp. I occasionally get them at night; the solution is to get out
of bed and stand on the afflicted foot until the cramp stops, usually
just a few seconds.

--
Joe Riel

On Fri, 19 Jul 2013 19:37:19 -0400, "Gus"
wrote:

It has been very hot and humid here of late. Couple days ago I just rode to
the library and back, maybe 10 miles but it was during the afternoon. And I
mowed some of my lawn with a reel mower human powered the same day.

That night had terrible leg cramp when tried to put down the recliner foot
support and got horrible shooting pain in my calf. I had tried to drink
lots of water (maybe 4-5 16 ounce glasses during the day) and ate half a
banana. Usually, eating a banana prevents the problem but not this time.
Funny, not so funny thing at the time, was I didn't even get the foot
support down it popped back up, so was stuck in the recliner with the foot
support up. Had to shimmy out trying to not bend my beg to make it cramp
again. After about 15 minutes made it to the fridge and ate half another
banana and drank a glass of water. But had the leg cramped again couple
times though not full blown searing pain.

What do you do to prevent leg calf cramps? And what do when you get one in
the middle of the night? I usually writhe in pain and try and massage it
and try to relax. Eventually, it stops.

I had several bad sessions of leg cramps, particularly at night while
asleep. A friend recommended trying magnesium tablets and the cramps
stopped immediately after I took the first tablet. My supposition is
that a combination of the hot weather that caused me to sweat even
more then normal and my avoidance of salt due to high blood pressure
(I don't know if salt contains any significant amount of magnesium)
caused me to dehydrate and perhaps my electrolytes were out of
balance. But regardless, it worked for me.

I have also read that putting a bar of soap in the bed also stops them
for some people.
--
Cheers,

John B.

John B. wrote:
On Fri, 19 Jul 2013 19:37:19 -0400, "Gus" wrote:

It has been very hot and humid here of late. Couple days ago I just rode to
the library and back, maybe 10 miles but it was during the afternoon. And I
mowed some of my lawn with a reel mower human powered the same day.

That night had terrible leg cramp when tried to put down the recliner foot
support and got horrible shooting pain in my calf. I had tried to drink
lots of water (maybe 4-5 16 ounce glasses during the day) and ate half a
banana. Usually, eating a banana prevents the problem but not this time.
Funny, not so funny thing at the time, was I didn't even get the foot
support down it popped back up, so was stuck in the recliner with the foot
support up. Had to shimmy out trying to not bend my beg to make it cramp
again. After about 15 minutes made it to the fridge and ate half another
banana and drank a glass of water. But had the leg cramped again couple
times though not full blown searing pain.

What do you do to prevent leg calf cramps? And what do when you get one in
the middle of the night? I usually writhe in pain and try and massage it
and try to relax. Eventually, it stops.

You obviously need to wear a Seattle leg helmet at night, those spasms could
throw you on the ground, you know.

I had several bad sessions of leg cramps, particularly at night while
asleep. A friend recommended trying magnesium tablets and the cramps
stopped immediately after I took the first tablet. My supposition is
that a combination of the hot weather that caused me to sweat even
more then normal and my avoidance of salt due to high blood pressure
(I don't know if salt contains any significant amount of magnesium)
caused me to dehydrate and perhaps my electrolytes were out of
balance. But regardless, it worked for me.

Unless you want to import some road salt, there is very little magnesium in
salt, even raw sea salt. Instead, try magnesium citrate or malate if
magnesium carbonate or eating more Mg-containing natural food isn't enough.

I have also read that putting a bar of soap in the bed also stops them
for some people.

I heard that a can of mustard gas makes one forget the cramps.

On Sat, 20 Jul 2013 11:53:34 +0200, Sepp Ruf
wrote:

John B. wrote:
On Fri, 19 Jul 2013 19:37:19 -0400, "Gus" wrote:

It has been very hot and humid here of late. Couple days ago I just rode to
the library and back, maybe 10 miles but it was during the afternoon. And I
mowed some of my lawn with a reel mower human powered the same day.

That night had terrible leg cramp when tried to put down the recliner foot
support and got horrible shooting pain in my calf. I had tried to drink
lots of water (maybe 4-5 16 ounce glasses during the day) and ate half a
banana. Usually, eating a banana prevents the problem but not this time.
Funny, not so funny thing at the time, was I didn't even get the foot
support down it popped back up, so was stuck in the recliner with the foot
support up. Had to shimmy out trying to not bend my beg to make it cramp
again. After about 15 minutes made it to the fridge and ate half another
banana and drank a glass of water. But had the leg cramped again couple
times though not full blown searing pain.

What do you do to prevent leg calf cramps? And what do when you get one in
the middle of the night? I usually writhe in pain and try and massage it
and try to relax. Eventually, it stops.

You obviously need to wear a Seattle leg helmet at night, those spasms could
throw you on the ground, you know.

I had several bad sessions of leg cramps, particularly at night while
asleep. A friend recommended trying magnesium tablets and the cramps
stopped immediately after I took the first tablet. My supposition is
that a combination of the hot weather that caused me to sweat even
more then normal and my avoidance of salt due to high blood pressure
(I don't know if salt contains any significant amount of magnesium)
caused me to dehydrate and perhaps my electrolytes were out of
balance. But regardless, it worked for me.

Unless you want to import some road salt, there is very little magnesium in
salt, even raw sea salt. Instead, try magnesium citrate or malate if
magnesium carbonate or eating more Mg-containing natural food isn't enough.

The stuff I bought is labeled Chelated Magnesium (whatever that means)
and seems to do the trick.

By the way, sea water is said to contain about 1200 - 1300 PPM of
Magnesium so I would assume that the evaporated sea water we can buy
here may well contain the same amount.

I have also read that putting a bar of soap in the bed also stops them
for some people.

I heard that a can of mustard gas makes one forget the cramps.

So, probably, will a quart of whiskey, but that may cause stomach
spasms :-)
--
Cheers,

John B.

riders here smear mustard on bar tape !

seriously, if you stretch expertly, exercise he area appropriately then the area will not cramp if no medical problem exists.

if the muscle is stretched then the muscle is relaxed in a state where if nutritionally supplied as normal or better then the muscle will not suddenly contract.

maybe a biz op ? bikemustard ? has Kryg tried BenGay ? izzat the mustard effect ? do you do this in Paris or Lower Ohio ?

aha ! a mustard-bar video staring Mr Cork

mustard...eyeyehhahhahahha....