Find out the two main reasons for cramping on the bike while cycling and how to avoid them while riding.

Video Transcript

Okay, so there’s two things that happen around cycling cramps. There’s two reasons for it. The first one is to do with your form, how fit you are. If you aren’t very fit, then you’re highly susceptible to getting cramps and I know that if you haven’t specifically trained for an event, if the training is not matching, like for example, when you get people complaining that they get cramping on say, the Peaks Challenge Falls Creak. Now, we are actually going to be tuneing that program a little bit this year to make sure that we accommodate that, because we’ve got it pretty right in the past, but I believe that we can get some more improvement in that. We’re going to add some more indoor training sessions and stuff that we’re doing out on the road to reduce the chance of getting cycling cramps.

One, It’s got to do with making sure that your training matches the sort of ride that you’re doing. It’s about preparing yourself for the event.

The second thing to do is, which is the really common one that’s more widely known, is hydration. You know, your electrolights go down. People get cycling cramps when they’re out on long rides and they’re not sweating. It’s also important obviously to take a good quality electrolyte with zinc and magnesium in it. The products that I prefer using are the Hydralyte products.

They’re available here in Australia. They’re a great product. Look, I don’t get any money for promoting their products or anything or making recommendations, but they’re a fantastic product, the Hydralyte products.

I have the sports product when I’m out riding and I have the non-sports product [you can buy these from the chemest] pre and post ride.

So for example, if I’m going out for a long ride, it’s going to be a hot day, I’ll make sure that I have the non-sports version of that before I go out for a ride. I’ll also make sure that I’m drinking it, for a major event, that I’m drinking it two or three days leading up to that event.

The great thing about the non-sports version of it, is that it’s an electrolyte without any sugar in it, so it’s not going to make you feel bloated or fat or anything. That’s a good product. Another good product is Endura. I don’t really like the taste of Endura, I used to have to add a little bit of cordial to make it kind of palatable, but I find the Hydrolyte product a lot better in avoiding and helping reducing the cramping.

So [in wrapping up] do [the right] preparation and making sure you’ve got a good quality electrolyte sports drink.