endurance and cramping

Well for some crazy reason I've been trying to improve my endurance riding. Seems in around the 20k mark I start to get leg cramps. They tend to stick around after that and while I can continue on, they certainly prevent me from pushing hard.

So….

I tend to sweat a lot when riding but I do consume large amounts of water to replace it. I'm leaning towards adding "stuff" to the water to replace electrolytes that could be lost, but I'm unsure as to what works(Brands or types)

Also, I tend to drink water throughout the week, but likely not as much as I should. I'm also a coffee drinker so this likely doesn't help with staying hydrated. Although I would not call myself a heavy user, I do have one to two cappuccinos a day.

Has anybody had luck dealing with cramping and if so what did you do to get rid of them?

If you added "stuff" to replace lost electrolytes, what did you add and did you start consuming it before riding?

Salt pills? Yay or Nay?

Water consumption leading up to big rides, start consuming more water in the days leading up to the big day?

Any diet changes?

Once you starting getting cramps any tips in dealing with them?

Any diet tips?(increasing magnesium or calcium?)

Cheers for any help.

I use a pure electrlyte in my hydrapack and its great. I snack on fruit all day which, drink plenty of water, limit to one cup of coffee per day. One thing that may help is stopping and stretching once you are warmed up. I have been that goofy person stretching in the parking lot, and it helps more than you can imagine.

did you suffer from cramping previous to adding those things?

Reason I ask is, lots of people I know do not suffer from cramping and don't do any of the above.

What brand electrolyte do you use?

hey bryan, i also suffer from cramping and have had no luck yet in finding a solution and have tried different things. the available literature makes suggestions for the causes of cramping but as yet there are no defined reasons. some people may simply be prone to it and i'm starting to think i may fall into that camp.

outside of med-high intensity steady state long duration activity (2hrs+), i can cramp at almost any time simply from sustained isometric contractions (flexing). on the nimby 50 i have suffered from particularly brutal cramping - the type where i collapse because the pain is so intense. i find that as long as my muscles are continuting to move i'm fine for the most part (even though i can feel the muscle wanting to cramp), but under sustained intense effort the moment i fall into an isometric contraction (ie spin out on steep climb and have to put my foot down) someone may as well be shoving a hot knife into my legs.

I was so out of shape before biking I couldnt climb a set of stairs. Cramping usually occures on park days and death march days, but not regularly. The brand name is Concen Trace, but Elite is good too. Its hardly noticable and wont wreck your pack.
Stretching really helped me go for longer rides, I have some old injuries that would cause my lower back to seize up so regular stretching is part of my life now and it really helps.
My husband played soccer for many years and told me that once the cramp has started, eat salt and vingar chips. The salt and minerals help hydrate the cramp. It does work but your still limited as the cramp isnt completly gone but at least you can get out of the bush. I have done that after running and its helped.

Someone told me pickles and/or pickle juice, but I'm not at the stage yet that I'm willing to carry them in my pack…lol.

I have found at the 5-6hr mark, that an adjustable seat post is pretty damn handy for coming to a stop and not falling over.

thanks for the tips.

If I may share a protip, I was taught to cut my water 50/50 with pedialyte before and during bigger climbing/skinning days and it wors for me. I also eat dried, sulfate free fruit at the same time, maybe that helps too.

Before the ride…day of and days leading up to the long rides do you drink just water?

It's hard to explain as discussing cramping and hydration really break into 2 components. And is an area that endurance sport hydration really doesn't talk of. Ask any bodybuilder and they will explain there are two types of hydration plasma and muscular cellular. Actually got this all from I'm Here To Win…pages 182 and 183 to be exact.

We all have and still follow the old mantra during exercise… hydrate hydrate, hydrate. So we drink water, ELoad, and so on. Yet all it does is replace what we have lost in sweat from our blood plasma.

Cramping occurs at the muscular cellular level not from blood plasma. And unfortunately those cells don't just simply hydrate on the go. It takes time for muscular hydration to occur. For the cells to hydrate, for Osmosis to occur across the cell wall. You have to intake electrolytes, magnesium, and such in the days leading up to big rides and races. If you recall the 80's you would see endurance athlete's adding extra salt to foods in the days leading up to events to do just that.

This year I did an experiment on myself testing this. Prior to one 60k ride put effort into taking in extra salt, Coconut water, and everything else to help hydrate my muscles. No leg cramps, no weird achy muscles, and just the usual sore knee joints. About a month later did another 60k and did none of the attempts to hydrate the muscle cells. Leg cramps, achy muscles, and just ugh.

For Bryan - more ice cream

Syncro - Midol

For Bryan - more ice cream

Syncro - Midol

:lol:

For Bryan - more ice cream

Syncro - Midol

sorry, how did you fare in the nibmy 50 last year?

or should we just share your experience on the elk thruston climb with everyone?

I your bike has bottle mounts I suggest getting a cage and small bottle (500ml-650ml). I use GU Brew Electrolyte Blueberry pomegranate. If your sweating a lot you are losing a bunch of minerals as well so you need I replace them.

There is a good chance that you are drinking too much water on a ride, as just sucking blindly out of a 3L Resi is easy to do. I find that on the road bike 1.5L of fluid is good for 80kmish. Curious to know what type of food you are eating while out on a ride?

I drink a tall glass of water first thing when I wake up, even before my AM coffee. A banana is a fairly cheap way to get potassium so eat one of those in the AM as well.

Things such as daily stretching and a light spin warmup before your ride would most likely help a lot. Same with not standing around post ride après in your wet sweaty cycling gear. Get some warm dry clothes on

Drink all the coffee you want. Eat 2 bananas before a big ride and dump a container of coconut water in your pack. Works for me anyway.

All I can tell you is what has worked for me over the years.

I generally only drink water for the first 2 hours or so of a ride or run. At this 2 hr or so point I've pretty much burned through my reserves (glycogen) where I switch to taking in sugar and electrolytes and I'm usually pretty comfortable as long as I can replace water, salts and carbohydrates that I've lost with sugar/electrolyte replacement drinks (like Gatorade).

I prepare for endurance events by loading up on carbohydrates for a few days beforehand. I think it is useful to train/condition your body to

1) Load up your muscles and liver with glycogen (condensed/hydroyzed chains of glucose - your body's fuel reserves) beforehand, and stay hydrated.

2) Release/deplete the stored reserves efficiently and effectively over the 2 hour or so time frame (for most people - you mileage will vary as you train more) it takes to run down your reserves

3) The stage where you run down your reserves is called "hitting the wall" - the point at which your reserves are gone and you have to get by by taking in electrolytes (salts) and sugars

If you can start to feel you way through stages 2 and 3 (above), you should make some progress.

Another thing that may help with cramping is to try to condition your muscles to remove lactate buildup (or whatever causes cramps) with a series of little routines during your normal ride called Tabata drills. These are short, high intensity drills that are supposed to help your endurance. For example, if you are out for a ride, sprint as hard as possible for 20 seconds. Coast for 10 seconds. Repeat six to eight times over the course of your regular ride.

Hope you find some of this useful. Oh yes … I'm a coffee drinker. Before, after and during endurance stuff. So it doesn't affect me (but that's not to say its the same for you). Good luck!