You are sitting nice and comfy in the passenger seat getting ready for a long drive home from the beach, when SUDDENLY, your driver starts screaming at the top of their lungs. “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!???!!??***”

You turn and look and you see your drivers’ legs have totally locked up in nasty, crippling leg cramps. They can’t drive, move their feet, or focus on the traffic, the lights or you (passenger). Driver must abandon driver position to suffer the rest of the way home. They are sore for the next five days and their training has been completely blown out of the water.

Or another instance, I compete in one sprint triathlon a year (except this year) and in the past, it was ALWAYS my goal to beat my husband. The second year I did it, I showed up to the starting line with like 3 weeks of barely running or riding. I didn’t care about anything other than beating my husband. I KILLED myself in the run and on the bike (granted he had some technical issues) but, I stayed ahead of him for both the run and the bike. I was almost to the transition area when I started feeling rolling cramps in my quads. Not debilitating but, if I didn’t stop I was going to be on the curb. I even got to the pool before him- then all of a sudden CRAMPSSSSSSSSSSS. Crap! There he goes past me. Inadequate training and ZERO performance drinks on the bike. He beat me by 2 seconds.

Once your body is cramping, you are basically STUCK. You’ve done too much and now all you can do is suffer. Good luck finishing the ride or race! If you can get your hands on a high quality performance drink it may help lessen the cramping, but don’t expect miracles. (ps. I do not refer to performance drinks as GATORADE!!)What causes muscle cramping? Complex question with many factors. Here are the basics:

1. Temperature

2. Duration of activity

3. Inappropriate preparation

4. Inappropriate hydration and caloric intake

5. Genetics

What I have witnessed in my many years of being married to a cyclist as well as from my father and brother (Hawaii Ironman Competitor for five years), cramping is more often caused by your body’s ability to adapt to the activity that YOU want it to do. In my humble opinion, I think muscle cramps are caused by the athletes assumption that they can do X on nothing. (not enough proper FUEL for too long of an effort) If you wait too long to rehydrate your body- it will “sputter and cough” like a car but if you “oil” it well throughout the effort, your body will reward you with a good effort.

Please READ the following resources:

Electrolyte Replinishment

Can Muscle Cramps Be Prevented?

The Athlete’s Kitchen

If you readers have experience muscle cramping, do you know WHY? What have you done to prevent muscle cramps?