http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Topic: eek - cramp! en Sat, 27 Jun 2026 19:44:28 +0000 http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5944#post-63678 Mon, 02 Apr 2012 12:22:04 +0000 spytfyre 63678@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Once got cramp in pool - pushing too hard from the side - one leg went solid - tried to put the other on the floor and it went too, ended up half drowning with a yelpgurgle, was managing slowly to swim with hands only legs floating in a setaed position, someone had to rescue me to get me out of their way... most embarrassing swim moment ever.<br /> @PS yes the nuts have potassium and salt in them I think, my sister is the doctor not me :) </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5944#post-63618 Sun, 01 Apr 2012 22:41:13 +0000 gembo 63618@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I swim with a guy who gets cramp which can be alarming. Also in meeting about two weeks ago parent staggered out with cramp - quite dramatic.</p> <p>Was at filmhouse last night - really is quite a narrow demographic in there. One member of audience had to get up and lean against the wall, very long film, another fell asleep and was snoring, very long and perhaps not such an engrossing film for some despite winning at Cannes last year </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5944#post-63604 Sun, 01 Apr 2012 20:11:39 +0000 PS 63604@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I quite often get cramp. Usually due to dehyrdration, I think (more common when I go for a post-work ride and on hot days). It happens a lot less often since I started eating nuts more often a couple of years ago though. </p> <p>Worst cramp I ever got was the first time it happened to me. I was 17 or so, had played rugby during the day, then went to the cinema. My hamstring went into cramp about 20 mins into the film. Felt like the muscle had popped off the bone. I was sitting in the middle of a full row so couldn't get out. I could barely straighten my leg and spent the next hour just trying to push my foot under the seat in front. No fun. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5944#post-63575 Sun, 01 Apr 2012 13:26:33 +0000 kaputnik 63575@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Argh! Cramp! Ouch!</p> <p>I only seem to get it when sitting down (as in my leg is bent) and it requires a painful effort to straighten it out. And a lot of suffer face. I don't get it often, but when it does it seems to be in the evening and I'm often sitting at a dinner table and suddenly I pull a face, let out a yelp and them my knee flies up and thumps the table, spilling glasses and making crockery rattle. Most amusing in a nice restaurant. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5944#post-63567 Sun, 01 Apr 2012 11:03:47 +0000 spytfyre 63567@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Not sure if this has already been covered but you may need to eat salt to help the muscles, potassium my sister says - always eat a banana before swimming a kilometre or more. Eat a banana before gardening :) </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5944#post-63520 Sat, 31 Mar 2012 16:58:09 +0000 wee folding bike 63520@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Ahhh, stopped drinking alcohol in '84. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5944#post-63519 Sat, 31 Mar 2012 15:17:11 +0000 custard 63519@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I hardly ever get cramp<br /> I dont know what causes it but maybe once a year I get it in bed<br /> always the same. I move my leg and can feel the cramp is coming. them boom right up the bock of my leg around the knee<br /> can be sore/tight for the next day.<br /> other times Im fine. yesterday I was doing a lot of moves with my PT,which he said often causes cramp a lot but i was fine </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5944#post-63518 Sat, 31 Mar 2012 14:31:56 +0000 SRD 63518@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>yes, that reminds me, I definitely always used to get leg cramps after a night out... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5944#post-63515 Sat, 31 Mar 2012 13:52:33 +0000 Uberuce 63515@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Need to make it a relatively tame G&amp;T or else the diuretic effect of the booze will defeat the point, but yarp. </p> <p>Watch out for the homeopathic remedies. If you forget to take one, you might overdose. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5944#post-63509 Sat, 31 Mar 2012 13:06:10 +0000 sallyhinch 63509@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>cheers guys - so rehydrate with a gin &amp; tonic &amp; make sure I get plenty of sticky toffee pudding (for the dates)?</p> <p>I guess I've never thought of what I do as 'training' but I suppose it's all exercise... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5944#post-63508 Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:49:13 +0000 Claggy Cog 63508@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Very painful Sally, my sympathies. We used to have salt tablets on hand in Africa and when I have been awoken in the night with cramp, which has happened of occasion, a glass of warm water with a teaspoon of salt added has helped. Tonic water is probably good because it contains quinine which is good for cramps and Quinine Sulphate tablets are given to patients with "restless" legs. For post-cramp pain Paracetamol is good. I found when I had cramp over the instep of my foot, which was excruciating, and woke me up, a good rub over with some Ibuprofen gel helped and I was soon back in the land of nod. Alternative sources of potassium to bananas are papaya, strawberries, white beans, raisins, sultanas, apricots, dates, here is a web link which gives you values </p> <p><a href="http://www.algaecal.com/potassium-rich-foods.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.algaecal.com/potassium-rich-foods.html</a></p> <p>As a quicker fix try some fresh orange with a little salt added, that should sort out both the potassium and sodium. Hope this is of help. </p> <p>I forgot to mention, Arnica is wonderful as severe cramp causes muscle damage like severe bruising. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5944#post-63507 Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:21:41 +0000 Tom 63507@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>@sallyhinch - to answer the other part of your question, about recovery, you could get advice from a personal trainer like <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/tracygriffen">Tracy Griffen</a> in Leith. She could answer your questions. Or read a training manual like The Cyclists' Training Bible by Joe Friel. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5944#post-63506 Sat, 31 Mar 2012 12:18:09 +0000 wee folding bike 63506@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Never ever had cramp and neither has my dad.</p> <p>We both eat bananas but we are also related so it's difficult to deconvulute. I ate meat for the first 20 years, he still does.</p> <p>Fruit and veg are generally good. </p> <p>Prune juice is a good source, it's tasty, keeps you regular but has some calories. </p> <p>Prune juice also has the advantage of being a Klingon warrior's drink. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5944#post-63505 Sat, 31 Mar 2012 11:52:48 +0000 sallyhinch 63505@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I think it was a dodgy banana in Tanzania that put me off as a child. I was given an unripe one (they're all green there cos they haven't been shipped) and made to eat it all, now I can't stand the thought of them</p> <p>Other foods must have potassium in them, no? Off to ask Dr. Google </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5944#post-63504 Sat, 31 Mar 2012 11:45:19 +0000 SRD 63504@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>how on earth did you survive living in zambia? i'm not keen on corporate bananas but african bananas and the wee ones from the Caribbean are yummy.</p> <p>anyway, i think you have diagnosed your problem! </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5944#post-63503 Sat, 31 Mar 2012 11:32:34 +0000 sallyhinch 63503@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>unfortunately I loathe bananas, can't even stand the smell... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5944#post-63502 Sat, 31 Mar 2012 11:17:04 +0000 SRD 63502@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I've always heard that cramps are caused by low potassium -- eat more bananas? I find I have months where I have lots of foot/leg cramps then none for ages. Never found a correlation with exercise or anything else.</p> <p>EDIT: just read <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cramp" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cramp</a> interesting! </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=5944#post-63501 Sat, 31 Mar 2012 11:13:24 +0000 sallyhinch 63501@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Just as I was falling asleep last night I woke myself (and my husband) up with the worst cramp ever, all down the back of one thigh. It took what felt like a lifetime of sweating and whimpering in pain before I could straighten the leg and stop the cramp springing up again &amp; the leg's still pretty tender now.</p> <p>In retrospect this may be due to a week of unaccustomed fine weather leading to too much digging in the garden, as well as my usual cycling (I'd done about 20 miles - which is a bit more than usual but nothing out of the ordinary) and probably a bit of dehydration. I tend to cycle for transport, in my normal clothes, averaging about 10mph so I've never thought of what I do as exercise requiring stretching, isotonic drinks and all that malarkey but I suppose my leg muscles don't know that...</p> <p>Assuming this is a (literal) wake up call from my body what would you say is the cut-off between just getting somewhere on a bike and the sort of exercise that requires taking it seriously enough to rehydrate, stretch, warm up and all of that stuff? And are there any good 'normal' drinks for rehydration? I don't want to spend huge amounts on some nasty-looking sports drink if it turns out lemon squash (or Guinness) will do as well. </p>