cramp

ojoger

had motor bike accident years ago and thankfully fept lower left leg. but now go out a lot on mountain bike. but starting to get pain in leg as if muscle is trying to cramp up. this is happening about four in the morning. is this something to expect or is there something i can do to prevent it? cheers ojoger

rhann

cramp is a natural bodily reaction to anaerobic respiration of the limb, the only way you can prevent it is to warm up properly at the start of your ride. If it still continues maybe your saddle is in the wrong position making you use your legs more then they should be.

TimesLikeThese

In addition to rhann...
Warm up and take a bit of time to stretch properly at the start. Stretch every so often if you start feeling tight on the bike. Stop and stretch every hour or two when out riding. And definitely stretch a lot when you finish.

If you sweat your body needs to replace those salts and the water or you cramp. Too much water alone will flush out too many salts and kill you so its a balancing act. Bananas, a pinch of salt after a ride help replace some of the different salts. Look at the stickied thread on sports drinks in the helath section.

J55TTC

In the latest runners world mag theres 101 tips and one of them is for dealing with cramp. If you get it at 4 in the morning have 1/2 teaspoon salt in a glass of water before bed - then quickly brush your teeth - tastes horrid. Should stop it fromm happening.

The Northern Monkey

Eat a banana... no i'm not joking.

Druid \'64

ojoger wrote:

had motor bike accident years ago and thankfully kept lower left leg. but now go out a lot on mountain bike. but starting to get pain in leg as if muscle is trying to cramp up. this is happening about four in the morning. is this something to expect or is there something i can do to prevent it? cheers ojoger

Is it possible that your leg is shorter? its very possible as it sounds like it was well mangled! IIRC you can get a different length crank? It might be as if your seat is to low for for your left side.

Plenty of people on here to tell me to shut up if i'm wrong or help if i am right.
Les

I am thinking you mean your left leg cramps and not your right?

fcumok

I used to always suffer from cramp in the night but never tied it to my riding. Warming up and down does make a lot of difference.

Dazzza

Apple/banana/figs/raisins just foods with high levels of potassium and magnesium both very good at keeping cramp at bay.

supersonic

An old remedy was a glass of tonic water before bedtime - the small amounts of quinine can help.

militiacore

Don't use table salt as it's full of crap. Try adding 1/4 teaspoon of Himalayan Salt to every 2 litres of water that you drink. You should find after a week or so that your cramp should start to clear.

physiosteve

Good knowledge supersonic...! Quinine isoften prescribed to a geriatrcpopulation suffering from night time cramp. Often the mechanism causing this cramp is a bit different to when the athlete is working. It may well be the following thwe motorbike accidet the local circulation hasbeen effected causing some blood pooling and metabolic byproducts to accumulate...... blah blah
basically try the quinin its gud advice and im sure it'l help