Muscle cramps

[FreeBird]

Wow! I'm overwhelmed with the response. I have some questions and then definitly some things I will be trying.

First off, I've only been riding 3 months and I ride a mountain bike. It's completely wrong for me given I ride the road and I log in about 70 miles a week. That may not sound like much but I have no stabilization on my knees and hip pain also. I will be looking in the near future for a road or hybrid bike and asking opinions, but I'm getting off track, sorry. (See, you can tell I'm a newby!!)

As far as my worst disablility (muscle cramps) I'm curous what a Nunn tablet is. (From Stephanie, formerly Ima Bleeder, who I can relate since I am 'Crash'!) Also when you said you occasionally 'pre load', before a ride. Is that carbs, and what kind?

It looks like i need to increase my sodium, more milk and vitamin D and Calcium. I do wonder if I should do this all at once, or one at a time?

[Eden]

As far as my worst disablility (muscle cramps) I'm curous what a Nunn tablet is. (From Stephanie, formerly Ima Bleeder, who I can relate since I am 'Crash'!) Also when you said you occasionally 'pre load', before a ride. Is that carbs, and what kind?

Nuun ( www.nuun.com ) is a tablet that you drop into your water. It dissolves and puts a little flavor and some electrolytes in there. It's got sodium, potassium, vitamin C, riboflavin, calcuim and magnesium. The cola flavor has some caffeine.

It does not have huge amounts of any of these, so you don't have to worry about overdosing yourself. It also does not have any sugar or carbs, so you're not getting a lot of calories along with your electrolytes.

Personally I like it more off the bike than on. While I certainly use it on the bike, I've never been a cramper. I do however get headaches if I drink a lot of plain water, so I like to add Nuun to some of what I drink to avoid that.

[Zen]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&c...i=&safe=images

[Kano]

Nuun ( www.nuun.com ) is a tablet that you drop into your water. It dissolves and puts a little flavor and some electrolytes in there. It's got sodium, potassium, vitamin C, riboflavin, calcuim and magnesium. The cola flavor has some caffeine.

Eden --- I picked some of this up lately after getting the headaches you mentioned when I was drinking lots of plain water on hot afternoon rides. First time I used it, I offered DH a taste. Got a kick out of his reaction: that stuff tastes like armpit sweat!

Funny -- I thought it was pretty good! A bit salty maybe, but yummy!

Karen in Boise

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

First time I used it, I offered DH a taste. Got a kick out of his reaction: that stuff tastes like armpit sweat!

You should ask him how he knows what armpit sweat tastes like.

[Crankin]

Armpit sweat aside, I think I want to try this. I have been having more issues with the heat and I cramped up really badly on my hilly ride Saturday. I've tried a couple of energy drinks and they are starting to make me think they cause weight gain. I'd rather eat Shot Blocks or a Luna Bar for carbs and/or protein. Plus Accelerade is bothering my stomach from time to time.
I'm going to go to EMS and buy a sample to test tomorrow.

And to the original poster, the muscle cramping is most definitely related to your Fibromyalgia.I have the same issues, which only ramp up as the season progresses and it gets hotter out.

[NbyNW]

I used to get charlie horses pretty frequently. In addition to paying attention to electrolytes, salt, bananas, all the stuff above -- I also got into the habit of stretching my calves before bed.

Also, if your sleep position allows, try not to leave your feet in a pointed position as you fall asleep. For example, if you sleep on your stomach, you could scoot down and hang your feet off the foot of the bed. I think the idea is to not leave the muscles in a contracted position if there is a likelihood of cramps.

Sometimes the charlie horse just comes on all of a sudden with no warning, but after I tried the stretching and trying not to point my feet, I started to feel a few twitches before the full-on cramp. Sometimes the twitches wake me up before the muscle totally cramps up, and then I can quickly try to stretch the muscle/rub it before the cramp gets too bad.