Eric Aldinger
I am not a doctor, so don't take this as prescriptive for your body.
There are different types of cramps and reasons for them. If you are
not an endurance athlete (stage road racing, gravel grinding, marathon
mountain biking, half or full triathlon) you may be better served
looking at rest cycles and your training intensity.
Intake of sodium (and calcium, potassium, chlorine, phosphate and
magnesium) is critical for endurance athletes. For instance, critical
depletion of sodium in your blood leads to hyponatremia, which kills
you. That takes hours to occur. So I feel safe starting with the
assumption there is a need for sodium consumption during long efforts,
just to stay alive. A clear answer about the relatedness of sodium
loss and cramping can be found in research published in 2007 by the
University of Oklahoma
"'Heat cramping' is defined here as severe, spreading, sustained,
sharply painful muscle contractions that can sideline athletes. Not
all cramps are alike, but three lines of evidence suggest heat
cramping is caused by 'salty sweating', specifically by the triad of
salt loss, fluid loss and muscle fatigue. The first line of evidence
is historical. Dating back 100 years, heat cramping in industrial
workers was alleviated by saline, and in a self-experiment, salt
depletion provoked muscle cramping. The second line of evidence is
from field studies of athletes. In tennis and football alike,
heat-crampers tend to be salty sweaters. Some evidence also suggests
that triathletes who cramp may lose more salt during the race than
peers who do not cramp. The third line of evidence is practical
experience with therapy and prevention. Intravenous saline can reverse
heat cramping, and more salt in the diet and in sports drinks can help
prevent heat cramping. For heat cramping, the solution is saline."
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17465610
I see articles debating whether sodium depletion "causes" cramps or if
muscle fatigue does. That seems like a rubbish way of thinking about
it. Both are critical components. You will see articles like this that
state mineral depletion is not the cause, just over exertion and lack
of rest. It provides good ideas to reduce cramping, unless your issue
is cramping due to lack of sodium.
http://www.bengreenfieldfitness.com/2013/09/ways-to-stop-muscle-cramps/
Reliable research showing triathletes with solid training foundations
suffer cramps related to salt loss, and that these effects can be
remedied by providing saline during episodes of cramping. This is
usually during or after heavy exertion. If you are doing a 50 minute
race salt may not be the big issue. If you are cramping at hour five
of your race, electrolyte replacement (salt tabs, pickle juice, fancy
sports supplements) is probably going to reduce your symptoms.
On Sun, Oct 11, 2015 at 10:55 AM, Ben via OBRA wrote:
> Does it?
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Eric Aldinger