Ouch - Cramp!!

I've just got back from a 100+km ride (Foulden, Weeting, Brandon,
Thetford Forest Green/Blue runs at High Lodge, Brandon, Weeting,
Foulden, Oxburgh, Cockley Cley, Swaffham, Castle Acre, The Dunhams) and
since getting home, I've had two major bouts of cramp in my legs - on
the inside of my thighs down to my knees. Ouch!

Ok, I'm sure I remember this is due (as well as my exertions) to a lack
of some salt - possible NaCl itself, or perhaps Potassium. Can someone
put me right on this please, so I can avoid this painful condition again?

It hasn't spoiled a great day out though

--
Chris

"Succorso" schreef in bericht
...
I've just got back from a 100+km ride (Foulden, Weeting, Brandon,
Thetford Forest Green/Blue runs at High Lodge, Brandon, Weeting,
Foulden, Oxburgh, Cockley Cley, Swaffham, Castle Acre, The Dunhams) and
since getting home, I've had two major bouts of cramp in my legs - on
the inside of my thighs down to my knees. Ouch!

Ok, I'm sure I remember this is due (as well as my exertions) to a lack
of some salt - possible NaCl itself, or perhaps Potassium. Can someone
put me right on this please, so I can avoid this painful condition again?

It hasn't spoiled a great day out though

--
Chris


and/or:
-lack of training
-lack of water
-lack of food (early stage of hypoglycemea)
-lack of Mg, or Ca, or Na, or K
-lack of stretching
-lack of legs with identical length


--
Posted by news://news.nb.nu

On Sun, 02 May 2004 19:19:36 +0100, Succorso
wrote:

I've just got back from a 100+km ride (Foulden, Weeting, Brandon,
Thetford Forest Green/Blue runs at High Lodge, Brandon, Weeting,
Foulden, Oxburgh, Cockley Cley, Swaffham, Castle Acre, The Dunhams) and
since getting home, I've had two major bouts of cramp in my legs - on
the inside of my thighs down to my knees. Ouch!

Ok, I'm sure I remember this is due (as well as my exertions) to a lack
of some salt - possible NaCl itself, or perhaps Potassium. Can someone
put me right on this please, so I can avoid this painful condition again?


Mainly dehydration - how much did you drink?

Regards!
Stephen

Steve McGinty wrote:

On Sun, 02 May 2004 19:19:36 +0100, Succorso
wrote:


I've just got back from a 100+km ride (Foulden, Weeting, Brandon,
Thetford Forest Green/Blue runs at High Lodge, Brandon, Weeting,
Foulden, Oxburgh, Cockley Cley, Swaffham, Castle Acre, The Dunhams) and
since getting home, I've had two major bouts of cramp in my legs - on
the inside of my thighs down to my knees. Ouch!

Ok, I'm sure I remember this is due (as well as my exertions) to a lack
of some salt - possible NaCl itself, or perhaps Potassium. Can someone
put me right on this please, so I can avoid this painful condition again?



Mainly dehydration - how much did you drink?

Regards!
Stephen

er, about 3 litres - I have no idea whether that was enough - there were
a couple of occasions when I thought "Hmmm... I'm thirsty" which
probably means "not enough".

--
Chris

Succorso wrote:

I've just got back from a 100+km ride (Foulden, Weeting, Brandon,
Thetford Forest Green/Blue runs at High Lodge, Brandon, Weeting,
Foulden, Oxburgh, Cockley Cley, Swaffham, Castle Acre, The Dunhams) and
since getting home, I've had two major bouts of cramp in my legs - on
the inside of my thighs down to my knees. Ouch!

Ok, I'm sure I remember this is due (as well as my exertions) to a lack
of some salt - possible NaCl itself, or perhaps Potassium. Can someone
put me right on this please, so I can avoid this painful condition again?

It hasn't spoiled a great day out though

--
Chris


btw, I forgot to mention - yesterday I pretty much exhausted myself
installing two 50kg RSJs in the kitchen, so whether that had any
bearing, I'm not sure.

--
Chris

Succorso wrote:

I've just got back from a 100+km ride (Foulden, Weeting, Brandon,
Thetford Forest Green/Blue runs at High Lodge, Brandon, Weeting,
Foulden, Oxburgh, Cockley Cley, Swaffham, Castle Acre, The Dunhams) and
since getting home, I've had two major bouts of cramp in my legs - on
the inside of my thighs down to my knees. Ouch!

Ooh, nasty :-(

Ok, I'm sure I remember this is due (as well as my exertions) to a lack
of some salt - possible NaCl itself, or perhaps Potassium. Can someone
put me right on this please, so I can avoid this painful condition again?

Wot the others said. Can be shortage of salt, water, potassium, food -
all sorts of things - but in my experience (and I get cramp quite
frequently) it's overworking tired muscles which really causes the
problem, especially in cold weather. Slow down and use a slower cadence
is the only cure without stopping. I usually manage to work through it,
though.

Guy

Succorso wrote:

I've just got back from a 100+km ride (Foulden, Weeting, Brandon,
Thetford Forest Green/Blue runs at High Lodge, Brandon, Weeting,
Foulden, Oxburgh, Cockley Cley, Swaffham, Castle Acre, The Dunhams) and
since getting home, I've had two major bouts of cramp in my legs - on
the inside of my thighs down to my knees. Ouch!

Ok, I'm sure I remember this is due (as well as my exertions) to a lack
of some salt - possible NaCl itself, or perhaps Potassium. Can someone
put me right on this please, so I can avoid this painful condition again?

Salt deficiency is highly unlikely in the modern diet. Dehydration by
itself doesn't cause cramp - TdF riders used to finish stages horribly
dehydrated in the old days. It's mainly caused by muscles not being up
to the demands you're putting on them. When your main leg muscles get
tired you unconsciously shift the load onto muscles that don't normally
do as much work (the calves are the usual problem) and then they cramp
up. It goes away with a bit of training - I've always had horrible
cramp in the first TT of the year!

IME cold weather doesn't help, so wear tights if it's below about 15 deg C.

Zog The Undeniable wrote:

Succorso wrote:

I've just got back from a 100+km ride (Foulden, Weeting, Brandon,
Thetford Forest Green/Blue runs at High Lodge, Brandon, Weeting,
Foulden, Oxburgh, Cockley Cley, Swaffham, Castle Acre, The Dunhams)
and since getting home, I've had two major bouts of cramp in my legs -
on the inside of my thighs down to my knees. Ouch!

Ok, I'm sure I remember this is due (as well as my exertions) to a
lack of some salt - possible NaCl itself, or perhaps Potassium. Can
someone put me right on this please, so I can avoid this painful
condition again?


Salt deficiency is highly unlikely in the modern diet. Dehydration by
itself doesn't cause cramp - TdF riders used to finish stages horribly
dehydrated in the old days. It's mainly caused by muscles not being up
to the demands you're putting on them. When your main leg muscles get
tired you unconsciously shift the load onto muscles that don't normally
do as much work (the calves are the usual problem) and then they cramp
up. It goes away with a bit of training - I've always had horrible
cramp in the first TT of the year!

IME cold weather doesn't help, so wear tights if it's below about 15 deg C.

Thanks for that - glad to say it was warm today, so it probably wasn't
temperature related. Seems to have passed now - having had dinner and
wine

--
Chris

in message , Succorso
') wrote:

I've just got back from a 100+km ride (Foulden, Weeting, Brandon,
Thetford Forest Green/Blue runs at High Lodge, Brandon, Weeting,
Foulden, Oxburgh, Cockley Cley, Swaffham, Castle Acre, The Dunhams)
and since getting home, I've had two major bouts of cramp in my legs -
on the inside of my thighs down to my knees. Ouch!

Ok, I'm sure I remember this is due (as well as my exertions) to a
lack of some salt - possible NaCl itself, or perhaps Potassium. Can
someone put me right on this please, so I can avoid this painful
condition again?

It may just be down to poor circulation, as in my case. I usually have
bad cramps after a day of significant exercise. It's nasty, but it
won't kill you (unless you're swimming).

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; lovely alternative to rice.

In ,
Just zis Guy, you know? typed:
Wot the others said. Can be shortage of salt, water, potassium, food
- all sorts of things - but in my experience (and I get cramp quite
frequently) it's overworking tired muscles which really causes the
problem, especially in cold weather.

Presumably it's because of some strain left over from putting in the RSJs,
I'd guess.

A