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Cramping? Try Pickle Juice

08.05.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 10 Comments

After my recent minor cramping incident, I poked around online a bit to find out more about cramps, and electrolyte replenishment, and staying hydrated.

It turns out that loss of electrolytes is NOT the likely cause of cramps.  What is? Some form of exhaustion.

The scientific experiments into cramping are interesting, but they’re limited. At Brigham Young University, male athletes pedaled with one leg on recumbent exercise bikes until they lost three percent of their body weight. Then, a gizmo was affixed to their toe, and electrical stimulation applied to their tibial muscle, which caused the toe to cramp.

Long story short — when they drank pickle juice, the cramps stopped in about 35 seconds. Those that drank ionized water continued to cramp.

How come?

Dr. Kevin Miller of North Dakota State University speculates that something in the acidic makeup of pickle juice is sending a message to disrupt the cramping. He says the cramp isn’t because of loss of electrolytes — it’s because muscles start misfiring when they’re suffering from symptoms of exhaustion. The pickle juice was still in the athletes’ stomachs — it hadn’t gone into the blood stream yet — so it wasn’t replenishing lost electrolytes.

And it’s probably not the pickle juice that stops the cramping anyway. It may be the vinegar in the pickle juice. One study had athletes drink vinegar while cramping (I don’t think I’d volunteer for that one!), and it worked even faster than pickle juice.

I’ve tried both juice from pickle jars and the commercially-bottled pickle juice, and I gotta tell ya, it’s an acquired taste. Each time I tried it, I didn’t get cramps, but since I’d been stopping at every rest stop and having something, I don’t think my muscles were in that state of exhaustion that would make them susceptible to cramping. Pickle juice is not a regular part of my hydration regimen.

And if muscle exhaustion is what’s causing the cramps, then build up the muscles. You might have to hit the gym in addition to the bike rides.

But hey — next time you’re out on an organized ride, and you come across a jar of pickles at a rest stop, pour some of the juice into a cup. Or even try some Pickle Juice Sport — it’s often available on those rides. Your cramping problems might become a thing of the past.

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Categories // Heat, Injury Tags // cramp

Today I Bought Bananas

08.01.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 13 Comments

It’s a mild summer in Austin. Here we are in August, and today will be our first 100-degree day of the year. That’s way different from last year, when we had 69 100-degree days — nearly every day during the summer. What do you do when it’s that hot? You go for a bike ride.

I was feeling pretty good this morning. Yesterday, I rode 33 miles and felt strong throughout the whole ride. No reason that shouldn’t be the case again today. I ate my usual big breakfast, got the bike in order, and went out to meet the club for the start of the ride.

They were taking a route I didn’t want to ride, so four miles in, I broke off and went my own way. My route took me through a hilly residential area, then out to a four-lane highway with a nice shoulder. Lots of other cyclists rode the same road, so there was plenty of opportunity to chat while passing and being passed.

I took a break at the turnaround point, about 17 miles out. A big tree at the edge of a parking lot provided plenty of shade. I ate a Clif Bar, and drank from a water bottle with Nuun added, as well as plain water.

Did I mention all the rolling hills on this route? I could feel them on the return leg, when I was pedaling directly into the late morning sun. I leapfrogged with a young woman, who stood on the pedals to power away on the uphills, but gave way when my heavier mass passed her on the downhills.

Finally, I was within eight miles of home, going up a bridge along an expressway. Suddenly, it hit. A cramp in the right thigh! I eased back on the pedals, shifted into an easier gear, and slowly climbed the rest of the bridge.

A decent hotel stands at the top of the bridge, and I took advantage of its cool lobby to relax and refill the water bottles. The air conditioning helped revitalize me, and the cramp wasn’t a problem anymore.

But the rest of the way home was slow going. Every so often, I’d get a twinge in my thigh, but made sure it didn’t hit me like before. A mile from home, one of the club riders caught up to me. I’d gone 35 miles. He’d gone 50. We talked about my cramps.

“Do you have a potassium supplement?” he asked. “Like a banana?”

“I’ve got a water bottle with Nuun,” I replied.

Then it hit me. Yesterday, I had capped off my breakfast with a banana. That was the only difference between then and now. I shoulda hadda banana this morning, too!

After a cold shower and a nap, I made a run to the grocery. During the upcoming spate of hot weather that’s coming, I’ll be eating a banana every day.

What’s your favorite cramp preventer?

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Categories // food, Heat Tags // bananas, cramp, heat

Cramps!

06.02.2009 by Ray Niekamp // 10 Comments

I’ve had one severe bout with cramps since starting biking, and it was no fun. Since then, I’ve always made sure I’ve had enough to eat and drink before starting a ride, and even though I’m still bad at drinking as often as I should when I’m in saddle, I do make an effort to drain one water bottle each hour.

But Sunday, I was on a morning ride with my friend David. On our return leg, he was sluggish. We made an extra stop at a convenience store so he could buy a bottle of electrolyte drink, and down most of it while we rested in the shade. We still had about 10 miles to get home, and at five, he told me to go on ahead, and not let his slow pace keep me back. I told him it was no problem, and I’d stick with him. But with two miles to go, the road widened and smoothed out. I speeded up, figuring he’d catch me at our usual Starbucks end-of-ride yakfest.

I got to Starbucks, ordered a large iced tea, and found a seat in a cool, shady spot to wait for David. I waited, and waited. I wondered if he’d just decided to go straight to his house and skip our drink. The “A” riders in our club, who’d been on a different route, started to pull in. I waited some more.

Then, David pulled up. He looked miserable. He said he’d had thigh cramps so bad just a mile away, they “brought him to his knees.” He sat down and stared straight ahead for awhile, then went inside to order a drink.

I’ve seen the cramps get David on previous rides, but nothing like this. Usually, we’ll stop and rest while he pops a few electrolyte tablets. The curious thing is, the cramps tend to hit him at the 35-mile mark. If we’re only going 20 or 30 miles, he’ll be fine. But stretch that to 35, and he’s toast.

“I’m having a tough one, Ray,” he said, as he felt another twinge in his thigh. But he had to get home, so he pulled himself up out of his chair, and got on the bike. Since he lives only a mile away, I figured he’d be fine.

Later on, I found that was not the case. He emailed me that he’d cramped up again on a long grade leading up to his street. He walked the bike for awhile, then got on and coasted the rest of the way home. The ride, he said, left him “shattered — absolutely the worst I ever had.”

David is not a newbie. He’s been riding for more than 15 years, and has several centuries under his belt. He’s been my riding mentor since I got into this sport. For breakfast, he had a peanut butter and banana sandwich, among other things.

David keeps some kind of electrolyte tablets in his seatbag — “etabs,” he calls them — and I’ve seen that companies like Hammer Nutrition carry electrolyte capsules. Other high sodium and potassium items like pickle juice and bananas are supposed to be effective at combating cramps. Have you had any experiences with cramping? If so, any recommendations for dealing with ones as serious as David’s?

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Categories // food, Injury Tags // cramp

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