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CRAMPS !!!
After I finish my rides I usually stretch my legs then after I get home & relax I start cramping in the hamstring . Does anybody else experience this ? Is there something I should be taking its as simple as pushing the feet rest back in on my recliner or sitting down on the floor then getting up ??
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Without wishing to state things you might already be doing here are something worth thinking about.
Hydration during exercise. Aim for 750mls per hour.
Salts? Electrolytes? Are you having enough?
Magnesium can help, as in Endura (metamag).
How long do you stretch for? Aim for a good 10 minute session if you can. Are you doing the correct stretches?
Do you cool down to remove lactate acid? 5 minutes light spinning around 70-80 rpm.
If you have tried all of these things it might just be that you are over doing it.
I got a few things to do then I usually roll down top of my street get bike inside stretch only for a minute then put bike & gear away finish off my drink then shower , I was going to get or try Shotz & was looking into Endura too will visit local bike shop tomorrow see what they say too
Cheers Russ the bike lender LOL
Magnesium is a great supplement to help reduce lactic acid build up which in turn causes cramping after sport. You can pick some up from most health stores - sometimes called Bio-Magnesium.
I have also found a great supplement called Cellfood, not very well known and expensive but works like a bomb. I rode a 212km road race (back in my gay roadie days) used this stuff and did not cramp once during or after the race - pretty amazing.
http://www.ihealth.net.au/cellfood-original-conc...
Eat plenty of bananas and salts (these days I usually eat scrambled eggs with lots of salt before a ride).
You can get supplements for ths too - I have tried Ultra Muscleze (sic) and Fibroplex. Find the later a bit easier on the stomach. Take this stuff daily when training and see how you go - everyone is different so experiment a bit and find what's best for you.
Eat one or two bananas during the ride, if you ride over 1 hour, and try to drink some sport drink.
But bananas is the natural thing with lots of magnesio, so go bananas until next cyclon in NQueensland when they are at 12$/kg again
.... and if it is in just one leg, then by having a pelvic tilt which means that one leg is effectively longer than the other and the muscles are overcompensating while riding.
Anyone using the Schuessler Tissue Salts (Magnesium Phosphate)?
After I cramped so bad at the Angry Doctor I started taking a maintenance dose (4 per day) and then at the Highland Fling I didn't have one single cramp over the 100+ kays. Obviously the conditions were different and I was probably better hydrated, but it's food for thought.
Yeah my osteopath had words with me about 'pelvic shear', and it wasn't from dirty dancing.
I used to take the GNC magnesium-potassium supplements (the two go well together, I forget why but there is always google). I don't like bananas tho
I also drink a 500ml glass of water straight before any ride, I also find as my fitness increases the cramping reduces, although i still get the occasional.
Did anyone mention Zinc yet, i also have a memory that lack of also has something to do with cramps.
Went to the chemist today & thats what the lady recommended , I love bananas but last week they were $5.00 kg . On the way down to the fling Rob I was looking for somewhere open to pick up bananas too carry on the ride but nothing was open at that hour of the morning , will be riding on Saturday morning so will pick up the tablets tomorrow to try for this weekend