I have a friend that biked with me on saturday. he cramps really bad when he races or trains long. His whole body… he drinks gatorade, ate power bars, i gave him salt tablets. Nothing is working. he did hawaii last year, same thing happened. always happens. But this week-end, it was to the point where he could not get back on his bike. i am convinced there is something to do about this. he signed up for IMAZ. does anyone have advice or input for him? i will try to get him on slowtwitch…
“His whole body”
If indeed he’s getting cramps throughout his entire body, I’m not a doctor, but I’d go see one. Would seem highly unusual to be cramping in muscles that are being hardly used unless there was something other than excercise induced cramping going on.
~Matt
Get him to try some Midol. Seriously. And as for Gatorade… I’ve cramped every time I’ve used it, no matter how dilute I make it.
Hmm, I have experience with total body cramping. No fun.
Is your friend a heavy sweater (not kashmir or anything like that)? I think the problem is probably still dehydration.
I tend to sweat. A lot. Last weekend was decently hot. I did a 70 miler. I went through 1 full camelback, and 4 30oz(? the large kind) waterbottles with cytomax/gatorade, 2 salt tabs for every hour I was out, plus food, and was still thoroughly dehydrated at the end of the ride to the point where my abs and other trunk muscles would cramp if I sat wrong after the ride.
I find I am really not capable of absorbing as much water as I lose during a bout longer than 1 hour in the heat. An event longer than this is just a case of limiting the inevitable damage done. Your friend may have this issue as well.
Let me ask you this. Does he have the same problem in the winter months? I don’t. Not by a long shot.
I assume you mean digestive cramps?
I’d ditto getting off the Gatorade as the first thing to try. Some people seem to have problems with it. I cramped once on a long group ride with it. I’ve been OK if diluting it 50/50 with water but found E-load to be more palpitable.
If not, he should see somebody, perhaps a sports nutritionist. His family physician may have limited knowlege of this unless it’s a physical condition.
Have him try Hammer Nutritions E-Caps.
Sometimes salt tabs aren’t enough.Escpecially when its hot outside.
Plus, there’s only so much liquid the body will absorb to combat dehydration.
E-Caps contain Sodium Phosphate, Magnesium,Potassium and salt.
It helps get rid of most any type of muscle cramp or spasms in endurance events lasting over 2 hrs.
I sorta had the same problem ,which always led to my quads cramping real bad, especially in hot weather.
Since I started taking E Caps I’ ve never once cramped up.
If he’s at 150-160lbs take 2-3 capsule/hr once the bike is underway.
Plus he cramped at Kona…sounds like an Electrolyte imbalance to me.
If its stomach cramps…disregard all of the above.
No it was more muscles cramps I think… mainly quads… he tried e-caps. i will get him to reply to this thread, i know one of you guys will help out:-)
Marisol,
From my early days in riding up until about 4-5 years ago, I had a serious problem with cramping. If the ride was long enough, hard enough or hot enough (or varying combinations of all 3) I would cramp up. I sweat volumes. More than I can drink and absorb. Strength training and more high intensity bike work helped lessen the problem. What helped me the most was when I started on a plant derived liquid colloidal mineral supplement (below) and a lower carb, higher protein diet. After those changes I was cramp-free! Amazing, but true.
“Some Salt Tablets” may not be enough. Ask him this: if he did a 3 hour ride in 50 degree weather, would he still cramp up as badly as he does in the middle of July? If not, then it’s almost certainly an electrolyte thing and he might just need to take in a LOT more electrolyte than other people. Electrolyte needs vary DRAMATICALLY from person to person. If he’s a serious athlete or has serious ambitions, there are places that will do blood testing over a long workout to help you figure out your rate of electrolyte loss and then recommend amounts of supplement to replace what’s being lost.
If you don’t want to go through that, try this: get a bunch of E-Caps or Endurolytes and have him take one every 10-15 minutes on a relatively long, relatively intense workout on a hot day. Yes, that’s a LOT of tablets, but it’s VERY hard to OD on electrolytes so there shouldn’t be any danger. If he does a lot better on that regimen, then electrolyte tabs are the answer and he’ll have to play around a bit to find the optimal dosing, which of course will depend on duration, intensity, temperature, recovery, etc.
Lee Silverman
JackRabbit Sports
Park Slope, Brooklyn
I agree w/ you Lee.
Apparently he’s tried E Caps,but maybe just not enough.
I take 5 per hour on 88 F degree days myself.
6-8/hr if its a real hot one,and I weigh 165 lb,and am a moderate sweater.
I’m also thinking that he maybe drinks a bit too much water the day before a long ride,and that its diluting his ability to let the salt work into his system.
Thanks for all your help, I don’t sweat that much so it’s hard for me to help him. i’ll have him check this thread out.
Or maybe you just killed the poor guy on the bike!! Miss Kona qualifier,Cincy Party Queen, Goddess of All Tough Brick Workouts and Sphagetti…etc…etc…
: )
Yeah, what he said.
Exactly the cramps I always got when I used Gatorade. Quads. Every time.
Or maybe you just killed the poor guy on the bike!! Miss Kona qualifier,Cincy Party Queen, Goddess of All Tough Brick Workouts and Sphagetti…etc…etc…
LOL I don’t think so, he is a faster rider than me 
And to clarify… Kittycat is the spaguetti queen, that chick can cook!
of course i think he should call the guys at infinit. seriously, they can make him the proper formula.
hey, in appreciation of you dragging my ass up these hills I’m going to make you a giant pot of sauce…lol.
hey you dragged me out the door:-) I have some frozen, I should let it defrost. You ARE a great cook:-)
thanks you are too kind 
babe, i think you need to go eat…lol.
.
I am not a doctor but I use to play one with my ex girlfriend.
Sounds like it could be a potassium or magnesium deficiency. Seriously, he needs to see a doctor and have some tests run.