Self induced cramp

Garry Booth
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Joined: 12 Jan 2010, 11:22am

Self induced cramp

Post by Garry Booth »

On a long or fast ride I have to be careful not too cramp by eg not changing tempo too suddenly. But sometimes I feel that I get cramp by simply thinking about it! Has anyone else experienced this or heard of it? Maybe I'm imagining it...
philvantwo
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Joined: 8 Dec 2012, 6:08pm

Re: Self induced cramp

Post by philvantwo »

Never ever had cramp whilst cycling. Had it a few times when I've been swimming, very painful.
On a hot sunny day on the bike I've thought about a pint of nice cold cider and then hey presto...........I'm sat in a beer garden!
:lol: :lol:
Jdsk
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Re: Self induced cramp

Post by Jdsk »

Garry Booth wrote: 13 Jan 2022, 10:05pm On a long or fast ride I have to be careful not too cramp by eg not changing tempo too suddenly. But sometimes I feel that I get cramp by simply thinking about it! Has anyone else experienced this or heard of it? Maybe I'm imagining it...
No migraine, no seizures, no tingling? Cramp goes away in a few minutes or tens of minutes?

It might be that an unusual sensation from the affected muscle occurs before the full-blown cramp. And that brings it into your thoughts. And then the cramp occurs and you attribute it to the thoughts.

Jonathan
VinceLedge
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Re: Self induced cramp

Post by VinceLedge »

I often get cramps at the end of a hard or long ride, especially if have done some hard exercise in the couple of days before. Unfortunately usually happens without warning, might be helpful if it did! Only thing to do for me when it happens on a ride is head home at about 50% effort! Sometimes a gel seems to help (possible placebo effect though.....)
gbnz
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Re: Self induced cramp

Post by gbnz »

Never had cramp by thinking about it. But suppose I'm affected by cramp at the moment; I.e. Past 4-5 days stopping on the street, 1-2 people stopping with concern, my left leg partially "collapsing". But best to ignore it; it's purely due too much exercise, in too short a time. Rather like broken bones and the rest, it'll pass with time :wink:
rjb
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Re: Self induced cramp

Post by rjb »

Mine usually occurs after a hard ride in the wee small hours when I'm asleep. I usually wake up just in time to leap out of bed and stretch my hamstrings. Usually get a bit of flack from Swmbo, and woe betide me if I get cramp and can't get out of bed because my hamstring has seized up. :shock:
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Garry Booth
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Re: Self induced cramp

Post by Garry Booth »

Thanks all for your comments. A commonly cited reason for cramp is insufficient salt in the diet but I keep on top of that. Ultimately I guess it is lack of fitness for the demands placed on calves/thighs! And yes, I do get cramp at night sometimes - most recently when I dreamt I was sprinting along a lane (on my bike) to escape a horse that had bolted!
Jdsk
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Re: Self induced cramp

Post by Jdsk »

Deficiency of salt in the diet is very rare in the UK.

Jonathan
axel_knutt
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Re: Self induced cramp

Post by axel_knutt »

If I get cramp it's usually in bed or the armchair after a days exercise. Flinching the muscle is sometimes the trigger, and standing my weight on it invariably the cure.

Regarding psychological causes, I once had a cramp-like effect which made both my hands twist and deform for a few minutes, but that was caused by shock when I crashed the car (a write-off, not just a minor shunt).
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Jdsk
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Re: Self induced cramp

Post by Jdsk »

axel_knutt wrote: 17 Jan 2022, 1:17pmRegarding psychological causes, I once had a cramp-like effect which made both my hands twist and deform for a few minutes, but that was caused by shock when I crashed the car (a write-off, not just a minor shunt).
That sounds like hyperventilation tetany:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypocalcemia

The effect on the hands is known as main d'accoucheur.

Jonathan

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al_yrpal
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Re: Self induced cramp

Post by al_yrpal »

Just recently the cramps I often have have been getting worse. There is one particularly worrying one which occurs right over my heart, very painful and seemingly more frequent.
I contacted my Doctor and her response was immediate. Face to face very next morning, and the same afternoon an ecg and blood test at the surgery. A chest xray and another ecg at the hospital 2 days later, and a heart scan booked. A huge contrast in response here in Somerset to the disinterested pill pushers in Oxfordshire where I used to live.
However all the results looked good. ecgs were fine, blood pressure and bloods fine, xray fine, so what else?
I started wondering about my statins? Did they cause the painful cramps I often suffer from in my legs and chest?
So as an experiment I stopped taking the statin. After a week the result was that all the cramps stopped. Told the doc on the phone (immediate response again). She agreed, "come off statins, they arent particularly effective anyway, and all signs are that you are very active and fit"

Great result for me. Bloods check for chloresterol in 3 months and heart scan or whatever will take place soon. At 79 at least this episode means I have had a very thorough welcome MOT :wink:

Al
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drossall
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Re: Self induced cramp

Post by drossall »

I mostly get cramp when dismounting after maybe 30-50 miles (say half way round an Audax). It's bending the leg over the saddle that does it. On one occasion the controller had to grab my bike while I hopped around foolishly.
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foxyrider
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Re: Self induced cramp

Post by foxyrider »

Jdsk wrote: 17 Jan 2022, 12:30pm Deficiency of salt in the diet is very rare in the UK.

Jonathan
But not in the body after a long hard day in the saddle. In the summer my gear and sometimes skin is rimed with salt at the end of a ride, cramp isn't far away unless i get some salts back in pronto.

Before all the scaremongering about too much salt in the diet i never had cramp, after everyone in the food industry helpfully stopped adding it i'd get cramps regularly after hard exercise. Having identified the issue i now take steps to keep my salt levels up and my exercise induced cramps have pretty much gone again.
Convention? what's that then?
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Tiggertoo
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Re: Self induced cramp

Post by Tiggertoo »

I assume this question and answer session is not about leg cramps brought on by exertion on the bike - mainly lactic acid build up - but something else?
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Mick F
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Re: Self induced cramp

Post by Mick F »

If I do a good ride having not done a good few before over the previous week or two, my thighs get achy on the way home.
30/40miles perhaps.

Sometimes, in the wee small hours, I may turn in my sleep, and the cramp is excruciating in a thigh - never both and usually the right.

Hurts like hell.

Had I not turned in my sleep, I wouldn't have had a problem perhaps.
Self induced?
Dunno.
Mick F. Cornwall
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