Cramping
So here is what I get on cramping. I'm going to distill what I believe is the answer to cramps:
"Most of the time, its plain ol 'too much effort(watts or power output)' over 'too short of time'(for a given riders fitness atm) that causes cramps. No banana, salt pills, Sport Legs(they do work tho, as I swear by them for racing), etc is gonna fix that. Help to a degree yes, but the rest is the riders job. Depending 100% on training and level of fitness at the time..everyone has "so many matches" to burn. Burn them too early, and your done for that ride, or atleast your gonna suffer from then on when trying to make any decent power. Everytime you go into the red zone(anerobic), your digging a "hole" sorta that will shorten your overall performance "window" for that ride 10-fold. A 12-24hour solo racer will try to never ever go in the red zone for this reason. As a loose rule, most fit endurance racers have about 2 hours of LT so to speak(meaning the above "matches"). You get the idea."
This posted by Duckman, last post on this thread on mtbr General Discussion forums. After reading this and that, I totally agree this is why I cramp. It happens after I've been riding longer than I've been training for.
Here is an article from cyclingnews.com, an article from cptips.com, and an article from ultracycling.com.
The cyclingnews.com article has a great description of what cramps are. Regardless of what causes them, it's essentially your brain going ballistic and sending repeated messages for your muscles to work. It needs to go ballistic because your muscles can't work. So the brain says "go" and you're muscles say "no." The brain replies by saying, "go go go." And it hurts. The article then goes on to say that inadequate training, dehydration, glucose supply, and electrolyte imbalance may play a role. It lists other reasons which, IMO, stretch the limits of practicality.
The cptips.com article says, " Cramps are most common when you use your muscles beyond their accustomed limit (either for a longer than normal duration or at a higher than normal level of activity)." This sums it up for me perfectly. It's not so much the duration, as I never have problems on a road bike. I can extend the road rides a lot longer and general fatigue is my main limiter. But the longer MTB rides tend to bring it out, as I'm riding at a higher activity level than I'm used to riding at. The article then goes on to give the various alternate theories.
The ultracycling.com article is a bit more technical, which to me seems to be avoiding the issue at hand, which is, "Why did this happen and how do I stop it?" They do mention fatigue, briefly. And the other things in passing. But the article, for the most part, is useless in terms of it's practical application. Focus on Duckman and the first 2 articles to resolve your cramps. In other words, train better.
Slice it any way you want. In the end, more often than not, it's because you're trying to go harder or longer than you've trained to go. No magic pill is going to fix that.
"Most of the time, its plain ol 'too much effort(watts or power output)' over 'too short of time'(for a given riders fitness atm) that causes cramps. No banana, salt pills, Sport Legs(they do work tho, as I swear by them for racing), etc is gonna fix that. Help to a degree yes, but the rest is the riders job. Depending 100% on training and level of fitness at the time..everyone has "so many matches" to burn. Burn them too early, and your done for that ride, or atleast your gonna suffer from then on when trying to make any decent power. Everytime you go into the red zone(anerobic), your digging a "hole" sorta that will shorten your overall performance "window" for that ride 10-fold. A 12-24hour solo racer will try to never ever go in the red zone for this reason. As a loose rule, most fit endurance racers have about 2 hours of LT so to speak(meaning the above "matches"). You get the idea."
This posted by Duckman, last post on this thread on mtbr General Discussion forums. After reading this and that, I totally agree this is why I cramp. It happens after I've been riding longer than I've been training for.
Here is an article from cyclingnews.com, an article from cptips.com, and an article from ultracycling.com.
The cyclingnews.com article has a great description of what cramps are. Regardless of what causes them, it's essentially your brain going ballistic and sending repeated messages for your muscles to work. It needs to go ballistic because your muscles can't work. So the brain says "go" and you're muscles say "no." The brain replies by saying, "go go go." And it hurts. The article then goes on to say that inadequate training, dehydration, glucose supply, and electrolyte imbalance may play a role. It lists other reasons which, IMO, stretch the limits of practicality.
The cptips.com article says, " Cramps are most common when you use your muscles beyond their accustomed limit (either for a longer than normal duration or at a higher than normal level of activity)." This sums it up for me perfectly. It's not so much the duration, as I never have problems on a road bike. I can extend the road rides a lot longer and general fatigue is my main limiter. But the longer MTB rides tend to bring it out, as I'm riding at a higher activity level than I'm used to riding at. The article then goes on to give the various alternate theories.
The ultracycling.com article is a bit more technical, which to me seems to be avoiding the issue at hand, which is, "Why did this happen and how do I stop it?" They do mention fatigue, briefly. And the other things in passing. But the article, for the most part, is useless in terms of it's practical application. Focus on Duckman and the first 2 articles to resolve your cramps. In other words, train better.
Slice it any way you want. In the end, more often than not, it's because you're trying to go harder or longer than you've trained to go. No magic pill is going to fix that.
posted by Norm at 4:58 PM
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