Muscle cramps above knee

munsterleinster

Cycled about 100km to the mountains yesterday (Sallygap etc).
Had the recurring problem of cramps at about 70km on the uphill sections.

Always just above the knee on the inside (Vastus Medialis?). Can be quickly relieved with a bit of a stretch but come back on any decent uphill section.

So where do I start looking?

• Seat position/height
• Hydration (had drank about 2.3L mixed with six High5 tabs)
• Food (2 Bananas)
• Pedal position
• Anything else?

Pablo Rubio

Prehydration may help this. I suffered from the same thing and started getting the electrolytes into me the day before races and helped me stop those cramps.Get the electrolytes stored in your body so they are already there when you need them instead of trying to replace them after they're gone.

If it continues get some proper advice on bike position and proper medical advice,

12 sprocket

Try doing some more training on hills for a few weeks

delynet

I get those too but are improving. At the start of the year I would get them after around 60k when I was hill climbing. Nearly came off the bike on one occasion, approached a hill (felt fine) stood up to push up the hill and both legs cramped, hard job to get out of the cleats in time before I fell over.

Now I hydrate regularly during the cycle and have a lot more miles in the legs. Was out Sunday and did a 125k spin, going up one hill I felt a bit of tightness but eased off a little and had no problems.

codie

Used to happen to me but someone suggested High 5 4: 1.I find it excellent.Good price in Wiggle at the moment for the 1.6kg.

munsterleinster

Seems that hydration is the likely culprit.
Thought that over 2L water with 1500mg of Sodium (along with the bananas) would have sufficed.

Whats the repercussions of taking to much sodium / electrolytes (A full tube of High5)?

12 sprocket wrote: »

Try doing some more training on hills for a few weeks

Can't ... my legs are cramping:P

smacl

munsterleinster wrote: »

Seems that hydration is the likely culprit.
Thought that over 2L water with 1500mg of Sodium (along with the bananas) would have sufficed.

An interesting article on the subject here. It seems that water and sodium loss through sweat vary widely, based on the individual and how acclimatised they are to the heat. For physically active adults the summary table has water requirements at

> 3.7 liters/day (males), > 2.7 liters/day (females)
(depends upon sweat loss; can exceed 10 litres/day)

Sodium at > 1.5 grams/day (depends upon sweat loss; can exceed 10 grams/day)

and potassium at 4.7 grams/day

munsterleinster

Pablo Rubio wrote: »

Prehydration may help this. I suffered from the same thing and started getting the electrolytes into me the day before races and helped me stop those cramps.Get the electrolytes stored in your body so they are already there when you need them instead of trying to replace them after they're gone.,

Going to give the Wicklow200 Challenge a shot over the weekend so what you recommend to prehydrate and build up the electrolytes?

Pablo Rubio

I use high 5 zero cal tablets (about €5.95 a tube)1 tablet in 700/750ml ( usually enough for about 80/90km for me)water when I go training and I usually drink a bottle of this the day before a race along with other fluids.

I've been using High 5 Isotonic during races which I prefer as I have a very high sweat rate and find it works for me , and a couple of gels.

Another thing I've found great is a sachet of Dioralyte(in the chemists) Blackcurrant flavour the night before a race . I've found these very helpful as I was getting extreme cramping epecially sprinting at the end of a race.

Everybody has different ways and favourite products ,but getting the electrolytes into you whether you are cramping or not is very important and definitely improves performance and recovery.

smcclaw

Pablo Rubio wrote: »

I use high 5 zero cal tablets (about €5.95 a tube)1 tablet in 700/750ml ( usually enough for about 80/90km for me)water when I go training and I usually drink a bottle of this the day before a race along with other fluids.

I've been using High 5 Isotonic during races which I prefer as I have a very high sweat rate and find it works for me , and a couple of gels.

Another thing I've found great is a sachet of Dioralyte(in the chemists) Blackcurrant flavour the night before a race . I've found these very helpful as I was getting extreme cramping epecially sprinting at the end of a race.

Everybody has different ways and favourite products ,but getting the electrolytes into you whether you are cramping or not is very important and definitely improves performance and recovery.

Pretty much identical to what I do hydration wise. I also find that having some electrolyte the night before is helpful.

Also had the cramping thing in the same spot on climbs but just eased back the intensity on the climbs (staying seated longer) and put in a few more base miles (along with plenty of stretching and a few sports massages) and all sorted now

Pablo Rubio

Another thing I use to help muscle recovery is the Foam Rolller. Use before and after training if possible . Cheap and effective

See link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mb6nGYHyJD4

http://www.performbetter.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/PBOnePieceView?storeId=10151&catalogId=10751&languageId=-1&pagename=91