How to prevent cramps when riding︱Cross Training Adventure

crosstrainingen... How to reduce cramps when adventure riding. Do you ever get the dreaded 'claw' during a ride? The muscles in your forearm contract and your hand curls up and becomes useless? Or leg cramps that force you stop and get off your motorbike? Welcome to Cross Training Adventure, we are into all things dual sport and adventure on the east coast of Australia. Medically it called EAMC... exercise-associated muscle cramping. It's really common in all types of sports but the weird thing is there hasn't been a lot of research. Check out our reviews of various adventure bikes and dual sport bikes. The interesting thing is many supplement manufacturers make a lot of money selling electrolyte powders and sports drinks by claiming this theory is 100% proven and correct. But the evidence for this theory is quite limited. The second theory? Altered Neuromuscular Control. In a nutshell? Fatigue causes an imbalance between the nerve impulses that contract or relax our muscles. Keen on adventure riding in Australia? We still aren't 100% certain about the causes, which means there are no guaranteed solutions for every rider. What causes cramps? There are two main theories. If you like dual sport riding in Australia then you might like our adventure riding vids. First? Dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. The theory is that if we lose too much water and salt through sweat, it can trigger neurotransmitters that cause cramps. Check out our vids. The main strategy is avoiding excessive muscle fatigue, and stretching techniques when cramps occur to achieve the right balance between nerve impulses again. If you get serious cramps then some mid-week exercise is probably going to make a big difference. Obesity makes cramps worse. Get into a healthier diet. Lose weight. Electrolytes. The important one is salt. Try adding a pinch of salt to your hydration pack. If you will be riding hard and sweating a lot for three hours, you might increase this to half a teaspoon. Researchers also suspect that there may be other causes of cramps that are still undiscovered. So we suggest trying all the following tips and see what works for you. Stay hydrated. Well duh! The colour of your piss is generally a good guide. Fitness. Is dirt riding on Sunday the only exercise you get? Cramps will be no surprise. If this reduces your cramps... great! What has worked for you? Keen to hear! Let us know in the comments. But remember the Altered Neuromuscular Control theory about cramps? There is some research that suggests the acetic acid in pickle juice can trigger the nerve impulses that relax muscles. If you've tried everything else without success, then see if pickle juice works. Stretching. Usually you can relieve the pain of a cramp by gently stretching that muscle, and hopefully relax that muscle again. What about stretching before a ride? Otherwise consider an electrolyte powder that also includes potassium and magnesium and see if that makes a difference. But in the majority of cases salt is the important electrolyte.What about sports drinks? It pays to be very sceptical! Some of these have way too much sugar. Too much salt, or not enough. Almost all of us need less sugar in our diets, not more. Riding style. Warm up your muscles before you really start to ride aggressively. When you get tired, sit on the seat more even if you have to slow down as a result. When standing, grip the motorbike with your legs. This takes a lot of pressure off your arm muscles. Only grip the handlebars as much as you need to. Less experienced riders often resort to the 'death grip' which usually leads to arm pump and/or cramps. And most importantly, learn to pace yourself. I see plenty of guys do this but generally the research says this won't help, and can even be slightly risky when your muscles and ligaments are cold. In fact it can even reduce your muscle strength. And finally... if nothing works see your doctor for a full medical checkup. Others say it completely stopped their cramps. And everyone pitches in with their miracle cure. But there isn't one definitive cure that works for everyone. So be sceptical. Work through a pile of tips and see what works. There's a long list of medical problems that can actually cause cramps during exercise. I regularly see riders asking for cramp cures on social media. Recent research suggests muscle fatigue is the more common cause of cramps, not dehydration or lack of salt. Motorbike setup. Regular arm cramps? As mentioned, it pays to grip the motorbike with your legs. Pickle juice!
FURTHER READING
www.ncbi.nlm.n...
bjsm.bmj.com/c...
onlinelibrary....
journals.sagep...
pubmed.ncbi.nl...
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