Cramp calves and sore quads

[PYLee]

Hi all

I'm experiencing frequent cramps in my calves so read up a little over the internet and decided to lower my seat post and brought my cleats backwards so that i'm not engaging my calves as much.

That help but i started experience soreness in my quads really early into the ride which occurs continuously especially on a climb. I tried moving the seat post up a little more but it seems to hurt one of the muscle either way.

Funnily, when i do the same route, some days i can do couple rounds with no issue, some days the soreness/cramps starts after a round.

Some feedback would be greatly appreciated. A proper bike fit would definitely be in the to-do list soon.

Thank you.

[trailgumby]

You need to allow for recovery as well. Don't try to back up a strenuous ride with one equally hard the following day. Thats a recipe for injury and burnout.

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[foo on patrol]

Hydrate properly, ride it slower, spin more up the hills, don't do back to back hard days, take some calcium and magnesium tablets and give yourself time to get used to the new position. That'll do for a start!

Foo

[rodneycc]

Gateraide and bananas generally helped with cramping when I played cricket... Something to do with low salt magnesium and potassium which was sweated out of the body I think the medicos use to say?

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[Constantheadwind]

I get a sore left calf muscle but only when jogging, like clockwork the pain sets in at the 4.5km mark. Never happens when riding or walking. I put it down to jogging taxing the calf muscles the greatest & my condition or the lack of it.
I sweat like a kid with a bad school report card about to show it to dad & I find magnesium, table salt, bananas & plenty of water post exercise greatly improve recovery time & stop later cramping.
Others have mentioned that stretching & warm ups may help but I'm often in a rush so haven't really explored that area.

[macca33]

You need to allow for recovery as well. Don't try to back up a strenuous ride with one equally hard the following day. Thats a recipe for injury and burnout.

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Agreed. I am suffering those symptoms at present and can clearly say it is from over-exertion in my case - 2 x hard (for me) races and another ride with a fair bit of climbing in the past 4 days. Muscle soreness from over-exertion / overuse is not uncommon and may be your issue - if bicycle fit is not.

cheers

[PYLee]

thanks for the advise guys.

I did notice that the cramps got worse over the days. Rode 3 days in a row, with day 3 being the longer one and the cramp is definitely more apparent then.

Also with electrolytes, does it really effect that much at all , especially with cramps ? What i usually do is have about 500ml of water and a bar before i go out and have a 710ml bottle with me for a 25-30km ride, about 500m climb.

I am still experimenting with my bike fit as well, with cleat + seat post positioning and also different pedalling technique ie toedown vs heel down.

[Ron]

Toe down will shorten calf and possibly encourage calf cramp, at least it does for me.
Being my first post this will probably be mentioned many times before this post logs.
Ron

[foo on patrol]

You don't want to be riding with your toes pointing down but as near as possible to flat.

Foo

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[biker jk]

I found the article below very useful. It confirmed my belief that pushing too hard, especially on climbs, is the main cause of cramps.

http://cyclingtips.com.au/2011/06/nutri ... ience-say/

[PYLee]

In regards to pushing too hard, i have a habit that i've been working to change.

I usually ride on a pretty big gear, even so on a climb so i'm generally lower on cadence and uses more fast twitch muscle which would lead to fatigue and cramping fast.

What do you guys think ? I am a pretty heavy rider as well , 90kgs atm

[macca33]

In regards to pushing too hard, i have a habit that i've been working to change.

I usually ride on a pretty big gear, even so on a climb so i'm generally lower on cadence and uses more fast twitch muscle which would lead to fatigue and cramping fast.

What do you guys think ? I am a pretty heavy rider as well , 90kgs atm

I WISH I was 90kegs......hahahaha. I like to try and keep cadence 75-85rpm on climbs, but when I run out of low sprockets on 8%+ average climbs, I have been down as low as 55rpm grinding away in the saddle.

cheers