# Cramping Calves



## LauraM (Oct 27, 2010)

I have been struggling for two months now, fighting a losing battle with my calves. My first experience of cramping calves was waking up in the middle of the night in intense pain, pounding my husband on the chest to wake up and help me stretch my calf muscles. If you have never experienced this, I hope you never do. Ouch.

So, trying to be proactive I jumped on the internet and read up on possible causes and prevention. I understand that sweating profusely, which happens often when I am working hard on the bike, leads to loss of potassium and sodium. I know dehydration can affect muscles as well. I have since made sure I am drinking enough water everyday and increase it a bit on days I know I will work harder. I follow up work outs with Gatoraid, and sometimes mix some into my water I drink during workouts. This has certainly helped and I have not woken up in the middle of the night screaming my head off again.

However, when I have been heading to bed, on several occasions my calves have begun to cramp. I remedied this with a heating pad on my calves.

I don't think I should have to work sooo hard all the time to prevent this. Does anyone else struggle with this? What do you do? 

(And I apologize if this is a topic that has been covered in depth before. I did a search and nothing obvious popped up.)


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## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

If Gatorade seems to help, why not drink a little before the workout and drink it during the workout? 

Are you on a fitted bike? Using clipless pedals?


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## wim (Feb 28, 2005)

*Another possibility.*

You could also be overworking your calf muscles. Next time you're on the bike, check and see which part of your foot does the pushing on the pedal. If it's the instep ("midfoot position"), the calf muscles are recruited very little. But if you're pushing the pedal with your toes, the calf muscles are being recruited excessively (in effect, you're doing toe raises on the bike). Conventional wisdom says to aim for a point between these extremes, meaning that the _ball_ of your foot should be centered over the pedal axle when you push down on the pedal.

There are some coaches who advocate trying the midfoot position for better metabolic efficiency. Their reasoning is that the calf muscles contribute nothing to bike propulsion, so there's no point in involving them. While this is a disputed claim, it is generally accepted that the midfoot position does take almost all stress off the calves. What you can take away from that is this: if you're "on your toes," positioning your foot forward just a bit (pedal axle slightly behind the ball of the foot) may make a noticeable difference in your calves. If you do place your foot slightly forward, but can't keep it there as you go through the bottom part of the crank rotation, your saddle could be too high.

As suggested by others, having your foot attached to the pedal could actually help. _Given a proper fitting_, many people like being attached to the pedal because it always keeps the foot where it needs to be for comfort and injury prevention of the entire leg.


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## andulong (Nov 23, 2006)

LauraM said:


> pounding my husband on the chest to wake up . If you have never experienced this, I hope you never do. Ouch.


 Yes that does sound terrible!

J/K I hope you work out the cramping issue.


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## LauraM (Oct 27, 2010)

wim said:


> You could also be overworking your calf muscles. Next time you're on the bike, check and see which part of your foot does the pushing on the pedal. If it's the instep ("midfoot position"), the calf muscles are recruited very little. But if you're pushing the pedal with your toes, the calf muscles are being recruited excessively (in effect, you're doing toe raises on the bike). Conventional wisdom says to aim for a point between these extremes, meaning that the _ball_ of your foot should be centered over the pedal axle when you push down on the pedal.


I think this will be something I will look into more. My road bike feels great, but with the weather the way it has been, I have spent more time in the gym. It is much harder for me to get the stationary into the proper set up. Thanks for the info!


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## heathb (Nov 1, 2008)

Yup the old night cramps. 

I'm a life long cramper. Cramped in all the sports I played, but cycling is one of the worst for cramps.

Stretch before you go to bed. Also when you finish your ride go out for a walk if you feel the cramps are starting, this can often settle the nerves down. If you're sodium levels are low you might try eating some salty foods, but honestly I eat a very low sodium diet of 250mg a day, my serum sodium(I work in a lab) is consistently low on this diet, but the cramps don't flare up unless I put in a workout that is substantially harder than normal. 

Cramping for the most part are nerves that are misfiring causing spasm. They are painful. They can be mentally draining if you let them get to you. I've seen grown men after my races hit the ground crying like a baby when they strike. 

I almost always cramp up the last couple of miles during my state championships, the pace is so hard and the muscles are getting burned into the ground that cramps will happen regardless of how much sodium I take in.

You might get an impact massager with double head. And I also use the "Big Stick" which is stiff and hard and has rollers on it to workout cramps, especially after races when I have to get back in the car and drive and don't want to risk cramping.


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## indysteel (Jul 21, 2006)

It's not just sodium and potassium that you need to replace. Try a calcium/magnesium combination supplement, too. 

And check your bike fit as already mentioned.


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## MorganRaider (May 22, 2010)

Hammer Heed during workouts + Hammer Endurolytes (2 before workout and 1 every hr) cured mine.


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

*Or*



MorganRaider said:


> Hammer Heed during workouts + Hammer Endurolytes (2 before workout and 1 every hr) cured mine.


In other words, add more salt to your food?


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## scottzj (Oct 4, 2010)

Check your local GNC places or health stores as there are tons of items on the market that might assist in the cramping. Some of them work and some do not, so it could be a toss up. Also, try adding more water and potassium to your diet. There are additives you can add to your water bottle while you ride to help you, but YOU MUST drink it before the cramps start happen, as if they are there, then its usually too late.


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## LauraM (Oct 27, 2010)

Any possibility a lack of cycling shoes could be contributing? I did a spinning class yesterday and made sure the right part of my foot was moving the pedal the entire time, but still cramps yesterday.


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## wim (Feb 28, 2005)

*Spinning, perhaps?*



LauraM said:


> Any possibility a lack of cycling shoes could be contributing? I did a spinning class yesterday and made sure the right part of my foot was moving the pedal the entire time, but still cramps yesterday.


I don't think so. Softer-soled shoes sometimes cause discomfort in the sole of the foot when putting a lot of force on the pedals, like you would in pushing huge gears on flat terrain or climbing very steep hills in a larger gear.

I'm beginning to wonder about your spinning—perhaps there's a connection to those spinning sessions and your cramps? There's a good likelihood that in those sessions, you spin at cadences (crank rpms) that you would never reach when riding your bike, at least not for any length of time. Your calf muscles stay in constant tension at extremely high cadences because there's simply not enough time in one crank revolution for those muscles to relax completely. But at more reasonable cadences, there _is_ enough time between two power phases (pushing down) for these muscles to relax. (You can actually see this relaxation when watching the calf muscles of a rider who's cranking at normal cadences.) 

What cadences are you turning when spinning? There's no need for anything higher than 90 in recreational cycling, especially touring.


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## LauraM (Oct 27, 2010)

I am starting to think it is connected to the spinning classes too. I can't really remember a time it has happened after being on my road bike. I don't have a gauge on my bike to tell me my average rpms, but I am assuming it alternates a lot more, like you have suggested. When I am working out on my own in the gym, I aim for 95 rpms on average. In spinning class it is at a high cadence the entire class, even in recovery.

If this is the answer to the cause, then what is the solution? Ignore the instructor and go at slower cadence in spin class??


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## spade2you (May 12, 2009)

LauraM said:


> Any possibility a lack of cycling shoes could be contributing? I did a spinning class yesterday and made sure the right part of my foot was moving the pedal the entire time, but still cramps yesterday.


Directly? No. Indirectly, possibly. It's not as much HOW your foot connects to the pedal, but where. It could be the foot position or the fit, but I mostly stopped Spin classes because I hated messing with the bike to attempt to get the bike almost as comfortable as my fitted bikes. At the gym where I used to be a member, the instructors were not offering a workout worth a crap for anyone other than absolute beginners. 

Regardless, getting your bike fitted and clipless pedals will allow you to get your foot in the right place so you can maximize your pedal stroke and you won't be reaching during your pedal stroke. 

While sodium and carbs are bad words in pop culture, having electrolytes and carbs before, during, and after long rides is how to avoid cramping up, among other things.


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## wim (Feb 28, 2005)

LauraM said:


> If this is the answer to the cause, then what is the solution? Ignore the instructor and go at slower cadence in spin class??


If your cramps always occur after your spin class sessions, that's exactly what I would do. If the cramps disappear, or are much less severe, after a lower-cadence spin session with slightly more resistance, it's a good bet you've found the answer.

Keep in mind that very high cadence competetive riding (like on the track, where people spin around 140+ rpm for some events) is done at simultaneous very high pedal resistances in order to generate huge amounts of power. That takes years to learn. Just spinning your legs at 95 rpm "in thin air" in a spin class doesn't really transfer all that well to road cycling. Power comes from force (resistance) _and_ speed (cadence)—the trick is to find the perfect blend.


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## Lazy Spinner (Aug 30, 2009)

Are you "fitting" your spin bike? Note your saddle height, crank length, and reach measurements from your real bike and then arrive at spinning class early with a measuring tape. Use the tape to dial in the spin bike fit the same as your road bike.


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## Cooper1960 (Oct 14, 2010)

G series PRO 02 Perform, an electrolyte mix from GNC . I had the same problem as you, had it for years, but not one cramp since I started using the mix. I think it's $14 bucks for a box of twenty, so a cheap thing to try anyway.


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## LauraM (Oct 27, 2010)

Thanks for all the great advice!


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## AndrwSwitch (May 28, 2009)

Bananas are inexpensive and contain electrolytes and carbs. Eat one before you ride, after you ride, before bed, whatever. I used to get bad cramps at night after a different fitness thing, and eating a banana afterwards helped a lot. If your spin classes are like the one I attended, it's an incredibly hot and sweaty room, and you're probably losing even more electrolytes than you do on a similar outdoor ride.

I think cycling shoes help. With the stiff sole, the rider's feet don't have to work as hard to be stable. Foot position is important too - if you're pointing your toes too much, your calves are working a lot harder than they need too. Good bike fit is crucial to good foot positioning. If your saddle is too high, you'll intuitively ride in a toes-down position to reduce stress on your knees.

I was about to ask how long you've been riding, but you mention it in the first post... Most people's bodies are still making adaptations at two months, so this should improve on its own to some extent.


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