The Electrolyte Myth: What Causes Cramping and How Can You Prevent It? 

Are you a cramper? Are there any remedies you've found that help?

Being just one goal ahead 10’ befor the end of the game causes severe cramping in soccer players

Very much a cramper. Saltstick caps mostly fixed it. I know, the science you described doesn't support that, and for most of my 30 years riding I was skeptical of all the received wisdom surrounding riding. But after many years of frequent night time foot cramps, hand cramps while brushing my teeth, quads seizing up on hot rides, I finally tried the caps, and while I still get the rare excruciating quad seizure after long, hot rides, the smaller, frequent cramping is gone.

I used to always get cramping. I found that consuming 1 saltstick capsule per hour with water works like a charm. On very long rides, with consumption of saltsticks, I could feel some muscles twitching (a precursor to cramping in my experience), but never really goes all the way. Give it a try bros! P.s. I live in a very hot and humid place

Great video promoting a lot of interesting comments. I don’t suffer cramp generally but when I have done it fully aligns with the closing comments about being fatigued through not being well trained.

Since uploading a few vids I now realise how hard you RU-vidr’s work to give us content. It might not seem it but your vids help a lot with my KOM hunting and local cyclists training.... just wanted to say thanks, Dylan 👍👍 it’s not said enough 👍

I only cramp when I’m racing and pushing high watts longer than 3 hours

Excellent video as always, thanks Dylan

“Heat amplifies fatigue”. Nailed it. From personal experience this video has confirmed everything I have learned and believed from years of experience. Well done. Thank you for another great video.

The most honest video I have seen on the subject. I am not a cramper but I have had cramps before and I always put them on the count of muscle fatigue and the lack of training. Addresses the latter and the occurrences of cramping disappears for me.

Excellent video mate. Good to see the use of peer reviewed information as you always do. On purely a subjective observation, I was once out riding an ultra, at about 210km I started to completely cramp up. I realised I had not taken my Mg+ supplement. Called into a pharmacy in a remote town and grabbed some. Chewed them up to speed up absorption. After about 45 minutes my cramps abated. Obviously one of many possible causes for cramping but it enabled me to finish the rest of the ride.

This was a great video thanks for the info Dylan.

I appreciate the way the info was presented in fact based manor. I also really am glad your channel isn't one big cycling commercial

Thanks! dylan! Just what I was waiting for! :D Cheers!

Love your channel, bro. When you spit up the 'magic potion' creation, dude, I about pissed myself LMAO! Great science with great humor thrown in! Hard to beat.

A lot of useful info and insight.....Thx! And keep up the good work!

Nicely articulated, thank you. This helped me understand why I cramp in marathons and half-marathons but not in Ironman or half-Ironman races: probably due to racing the endurance triathlons at a slightly slower pace than the pure running events. Oh, and your comment about humidity inducing fatigue - bingo! I cramped heaps more when living in hot and humid Brisbane, Australia, than anywhere else. I've tried to prevent cramps with magnesium, potassium, salt, electrolytes, etc. None worked. But ACV and an unknown disgusting cramp remedy in a race once both worked - thanks for recognising that the 'disgusting' factor may have been the magic ingredient! Keep up the great content (as long as you're still enjoying it!)

This is one of your best videos. Thank you!

Great info right there Dylan! Thanks again

Thank you for your content. You are professional, funny and science based. Keep it up. I cramp on rides or races that are out of my usual distance/time zone BWR, Lost and Found Gravel. I'm a personal trainer and cycling coach and get asked this question that you are addressing frequently. Thanks for crunching the science and making it fun.

Dude, good job! Thank you!!! Respect.

Good video, as always!

The best summary of cramping I’ve seen

That was helpful. I cramped up twice last month, and it was because I pushed myself beyond the level of my conditioning. And yes, it is true; more conditioning has eliminated my cramping. Being new to the sport and only a few months shy of 60, my plan is to increase my distance by 10 miles each month.

I’m a cramper, it would drive me nuts, so painful especially during the night, I have increased my exercise load as I’m training for Ironman and was really concerned about the cramps I was getting, I used to cramp just about a every time I rode, I’m relieved to say I’ve cramped once in the last 6 weeks, I put this down to the extra loads my legs have been taking on and have conditioned to what was being asked of them, happy days 🙂 long may it continue

My broscience take: every since I started using Scratch mix or some type of electrolyte powder i have never experienced cramps -- and I used to before.

I'm 68 yrs old and have cramped in some endurance events but not in others over the past 35 yrs. My take, based on experience in the same 109km event over the past 25yrs is that the better I train the less likely I am to cramp. In particular, getting sufficient long distance runs and cycles before getting down to specific hill and interval work seems to be critical for me. This fits in with your conclusion, Dylan. I would just add that one supplement I didn't pick-up from your presentation was magnesium. This is something that I am not sure about and would welcome your comments as it has strong credence with many athletes I know. Further, last year I used it extensively and got no cramps but this year I did not use it and in the same event, I did cramp towards the end of the race. However, I also trained more last year, hence my uncertainty! Loved the advert for the magic juice!

Another great topic! You’re killin it!!! Thanks for all the great info!!

Thank you very much, very interesting! Like always actually.

Excellent video on something I've dealt with a lot over the years - would have been nice if you had give us a singular explanation that always works though lol. Kidding aside, I can't argue with your findings although I'm a bit stuck on the electrolyte factor - it truly seems to me that no electrolyte = more likely to cramp, but if proper electrolyte intake = less fatigue and less fatigue = less cramping then yes, I see it. The gene factors seems viable too - my wife (former pro) has "never experienced a muscle cramp" in her life (racing or otherwise) whereas I used to get them so bad it's insane. I do find that A) training harder throughout the year (more evenly than a lazy winter and a spike in Spring and Summer) has helped, and B) Increasing intensity and duration more progressively helps for sure, no doubt about it C) Some of my most concerted efforts to avoid cramping involved carefully planned intake of various drink mixes and often in heavy quantities that I believe taxed my digestion to a degree that only made my cramps worse (by redirecting more blood from working muscles and putting it into digestion) D) My worst cramping has always come with feast or famine / weekend warrior rides where my body just isn't ready for the efforts after a week of sitting at a desk interrupted only by shorter rides. This does leave me with a question though - the worst cramps I used to get and still suffer from sometimes are not the ones that happen during the ride but rather later (hours after ride is over). If the effort is over, surely some form of depletion is causing this "collapse in a fit" cramps when getting up from a table 2 hrs after a ride??? The simple gesture of standing up is far from an intense effort, but man it can trigger a cramp so bad you want to cry. When this happens I find that barefoot on a cool floor really helps - like the neuro distraction of pickle juice I guess!?

Seeing patients in critical care for several years with electrolyte disturbances, I can agree its likely not whats causing the cramps. Youd have seizures or dysrythmias (ECG changes) far before you have skeletal muscle cramping - those tissues are far more sensitive to disturbances (potassium for the heart and sodium for the brain mostly). Even hypoglycemia and elevated lactate levels I dont buy as the cause. It has to be something local to the muscle or peripheral nervous system imo. I wrote a paper on it back in uni... Im thinking its related to the ability of the motor units to return calcium to the SR, ending muscle contraction. Likely ion pump dysfunction. Thats one thing you can say for sure, but not pin down the exact cause or remedy. Love your vids by the way! Understand training science a lot more because of it. Thx! Just thought Id share my experiences that apply to this vid.

Thanks again for another great video

Thanks for the great analysis.

the beast mode drink spit up was perfect! that's basically what my son did with the first brotein shake i made him after a strength session last week. LOL!

Great video dude. I had the worst bout of cramping during the first adventure race of the year. My training was severely hampered in the weeks leading up to the event because of continuous storm systems. My training reduced to treadmill runs and a bit of gym work, no cycling or brick training. On the day of the race in my mind I was going to treat it like a training day but as soon as the first wheel passed me I couldn't resist following! Hydration definitely wasnt a problem because i had been drinking plenty of electrolytes in the days leading up to the race. I could feel the first cramps halfway around the first bike leg before a 8km mountain run😩 my quads got so bad going up the mountain I could barely lift my feet! Fun times😭😭 In short.. Racing harder than training = cramps.

Great video as always. This topic really highlights a complex topic with two polarized theories to account for it that we try to reduce to a binary solution. It is clear from the lack of consensus in the literature that the ultimate cause of cramping will not be a black or white answer, rather a vast portion of the gray spectrum in between. That being said, if taking electrolytes every 12.4 miles, while chewing on jalapeno peppers, and drinking pickle juice helps, then kudos to the placebo effect and mental conviction. I myself I'm quite fond of Backwards Hat Dylan secret formula of 98% habanero pepper and maltodextrin on the pizza and beer flavour.

Great stuff! Dylan ever thought about doing an episode on plasma and blood donating and what the effects are on cycling and athletic performance and training? We have a number of competitive cyclists who regularly donate plasma and it doesn't seem to effect their performance. Thanks

Great video!

I am and always have been a big time cramper. What you are saying in this video perfectly matches my experience, which is that most people cramp when fatigued while some cramp very frequently and easily, a few never do. Stretching cramping muscle helps but may trigger cramps in the contralateral extremity. I am very prone to adductor and hamstring cramps and stretch exercises of those often involve shortening of the contralateral, so I've learned that the hard way. Also, at Leadville 2016 I had an unlimited access to one of the commercial products claiming that they can control cramping by stimulating the mouth and esophagus receptors (HotShot might have been the brand name but not 100% sure). It did not have any obvious effect although it is hard to tell if I would have cramped even worse without it. Bottom line: the only thing that works is pacing yourself.

Love your Humor, Dylan 🤣🤣👍 As usual great video with very useful information

Dude thank you for this video. I subscribed mainly due to all the Pisgah placards on your wall. I live in CLT.

The explanation of heat and fatigue matches my anecdotal evidence. In my 15 years of road cycling I've experienced cramps only twice. Both were days with extreme temperatures and a massive amount of climbing, beyond my normal training. In both cases I recovered by drinking cold water and dumping cold water over my body to cool down.

Great video - especially the cameo from BHD. I actually beat him to the the involuntary spit (with coffee) when the ingrediant list got to the chamois extract....

Getting in shape has been the only fix for cramping in triathlon. And I’ve tried it all!

I have suffered muscle cramps for many years towards the end of long (100 mile) sportives and usually several hours after a hard training ride throughout the year. I tried all sorts of remedies including hydration and electrolytes (specifically sodium and potassium) but nothing really made much difference including stretching. Fast forward to this year and I have been changing my diet and doing lots of research into nutrition, (not specifically for cramping). One of the things I did find surprising was there were a lot of doctors saying that the majority of people are deficient in magnesium because there is not a lot in our modern, intensively farmed food. Magnesium is very important for muscular signalling including especially the heart so I started taking a daily supplement and noticed almost straight away no more cramping after a training ride, even quite arduous ones. One of the things about magnesium apparently is that it is very difficult to diagnose a deficiency because most of the magnesium is stored in the cells not the blood stream so it's very difficult to ascertain your magnesium level. All of the research that I have seen into cramping revolves around the common electrolytes like sodium or potassium which are easy to measure the blood serum level. It may just be more hooey but I'm continuing to monitor the effect and would be interested to hear if anyone has had similar experiences.

Again informative as usual as we come to expect. Did not FSU pilot a program to assist football players and cramping. it would be interesting to read there initial hypothesis on the question being posed here in relation to DELAY the onset of cramping vs a REMEDY for cramping. I think that would be an interesting read if it exist. Again kudos for your work!!!

Thanks - I came here after a cramp today that struck me when I was crossing a street on a bike in traffic. Well presented with actual (non-bro) science. Guess I'll try to up my volume/intensity a bit more steadily.

Classic Backwards Hat Dylan take! I laughed so hard, I almost dropped my IPad.

Appreciate the science but stay for the banter 9:00

You looked at some related material but there is more to investigate. Post-exercise cramping (typically when sleeping, or doing casual swimming in cold water), not in-exercise, is another sort that is a big problem (big literal pain). Potassium (from food) in particular is another remedy administered in a chronic (not acute) pattern, this stemming from the known biological mechanism whereby this element is used as a primary muscle relaxer signalling agent in the cycle of neuromuscular contraction-relaxation, and it can be depleted. Finaly, more training, not less trainng, is associated with more such cramps. To characterize post-exercise cramping, it's a like a giant full force contraction with no off-button -- it just won't stop, and it's able to tear the muscle; it's not a little discomfort. Anyway, I've talked way above my head like some kind of exercise physiologist which I'm not but the struggle is real.

Maybe unrelated but I often feel legs cramping in my sleep the night before a race, like from adrenaline building in anticipation. (They're easy enough to stretch out.) I remember my first NUE, Wildernes 101, where I passed you after you'd completely bonked or cramped . Then later you recovered and flew past encouraging me to keep up down the Croyle Run (yeah right!) You went on to get 14th and I got 21st :) (but I may be mixing races up!). You taught me a very valuable lesson that day and in the years since some of my best races were when I had the worst cramps. I knew I could stretch it out a bit, down a gel, and move on. Almost like a Sneeze I've sometimes wished the cramps on so I could get through them, because after an attack you generally go back to relative normal.

Great stuff here! I do cramp a lot on longer rides so this was right on time for me! Also, how do you adjust your training if you are preparing for a ride or race at a much higher altitude? Maybe a video idea

Love your videos! Can you you make a video about recovery and whether whoop strap is just a gimmick or an effective tool?

For me, water/hydration intake the two days prior to my cramp issues is a marker. That is to say, if I exercise on a Thursday and don’t hydrate properly during or after, then I’m almost guaranteed to experience cramping on Saturday or Sunday. This might be the case of I worked harder on that Thursday and am still fatigued that Saturday or Sunday, so when I think I can go deep in that Saturday or Sunday session I pay for it. Veggie juice and beet juice added to my regular diet do wonders for me probably due to a good concentration of vitamins/minerals. Great video, Dylan.

I would add to it one more factor - it's a temperature. I've noticed that it is a significantly higher chance to get cramps if I haven't warmed up enough or temperature around me dropping fast and muscles get cold faster than expected. Or if you underestimate the weather and wear unfitted clothes for such cold. Happened a couple of time as well.

Makes total sense to me. Suddenly I started getting locked up all over cramps, on long runs. Lasted months an months, I’ve decided, it’s just overuse/under fitness. I just need to improve.

I've typically been afflicted by cramping when being unprepared for a much longer/harder ride than usual. High humidity and temperature were also present.

Interesting video and very much appreciated! (:

Very good video. You could have added the impact of nutrition on cramps. Since i switched to low carbs, i need more salt and is processed better. When you are a sugar addict, salt is retained, so the system does need more. I also take pure salt rather than buying electrolytes with sugar. For the past 2 yrs, never had any cramps on bike rides of 3-4hrs.

Before I was 30 I don't think I ever cramped. Not even sure if it happened before 35. But you seem to have concluded the same thing as I have: increasing fitness appears to be the most efficient way to reduce cramping. In 2017, I owned a bike for the first time since 2007. One day on a climb, I had cramps in so many leg muscles that I couldn't unclip, and I could barely pedal. I looked for some spot by the side of the road where the ground looked soft and then tried to crash there as softly as possible, before immediately starting to stretch my legs. A year later I passed the same spot, and barely even thought of the climb as a climb. Of course I didn't cramp. Oh, and I often do drink an electrolyte drink on longer rides, but that's mainly because I like the taste, and that makes me drink more. I don't notice any extra cramping when I just have water in the bottles.

Obviously cramping is multifactorial. But why do electrolyte drinks and pickle juice help so many people? Well sweat composition and volume are individual factors that vary from person to person. Low volume and / or low sodium sweaters often have non-electrolyte causes of cramping related to fatigue, overuse, injury, etc. However the impact of localized factors is unknown. They often respond to non-electrolyte based interventions such as stretching and the mystery component (peptide fragments?) of pickle juice that alters receptor activation. High volume and / or high sodium sweaters, or average sodium / average volume sweaters, especially over long periods of time, can alter both their intra and extracellular electrolyte concentrations without getting dehydrated if intake doesn’t match output. This in turn alters both the neural and muscular action potentials predisposing muscles to cramping. Because sodium and potassium are the two major players in this process, alterations in their concentrations are the most likely to cause cramping. It’s important to remember that large amounts of electrolytes are stored inside cells and not detected by simple blood levels. It takes large shifts over sustained periods of time for these changes to be noted in the blood even when intercellular levels are severely altered because of the bodies response and drive to keep blood levels constant. Even athletes that are severely dehydrated can have normal sodium and potassium levels in their blood while experiencing a total body shutdown. We forget that action potentials are not universal even within our own bodies and vary from side to side, muscle to muscle and nerve to nerve changing throughout the course of a race. Previously injured muscles and those potentially doing more work (higher watts from one leg as an example ) over time makes that muscle susceptible to cramping. Localized pH almost certainly plays a role because of its universal effects on transporter and protein function. As an example maybe one of your muscles is more prone to cramping because there’s some sort of alteration in deoxygenated blood returning from that region. Finally most of these studies neglect the effects of, and effect of exercise on, osmolality which is regulated by your kidneys and pituitary gland, both of which can be affected by age, medications, pain and stress. These systems alone can change sodium and possum levels WITHOUT exercise but the effects are often amplified by exercise. Interestingly osmolality is most effected by sodium and potassium (as well as free water) levels. So in conclusion, sodium and potassium are the most important intracellular electrolytes related to muscle and nerve action potentials, two of the most common extracellular electrolytes and the most important electrolytes related to osmolality, disturbances in all of which lead to cramps. (Obviously I’m leaving out the negatively charged ions which don’t seem to be as important but remember they are there and you need one to have the other). Therefore replacing sodium and potassium with electrolyte drinks, tabs or the magic pickle juice will often allow your body to place these electrolytes closer to their desired levels and thus alleviate or improve cramps in many athletes no matter which of these processes is the cause.

You deserve a big like to this video for giving us some literature review on this topic. Totally debunking the electrolytes myth.

FMD. I peed a little during that BackHatDJ skit 😂🤣😂🤣😂😂😂

Hi Dylan, great video. I have a tendency to cramp around the 60-70 km mark of my rides, I have type 2 diabetes and get the sense that has something to do with it. I have extra large quad muscles, I’ve found that heat on the muscles when I get home such as a super hot bath helps relax the muscles... I wonder if taking a muscle relaxant will help.. will have to test this out.

I won a cycling event many years ago but gave my medal to a cycling friend who was about to retire due to illness . The podium outcome doesn't make me feel good but embarrassed instead as too many people ask you questions .

I am a cramper. Had L5/S1 surgery and now my right calf muscles and the peronneus cramp after hard efforts in particular and in the night in general. Licorice, Booze and Limptar N helps.

I was out of aerobic shape 5 years ago. Knew nothing about downhill mountain biking when a friend introduced it to me at a lift serviced resort. Rented a high end full sus mountain bike and biked 4 days in a row. Was instantly hooked. Was always looking for something with similar excitement as alpine skiing during non-snow months and this fit the bill. Started mountain biking in earnest and loved earning the downhill thrill by pedaling to the top. No more resorts for me. But on hot summer mornings I’d often start cramping up. As I was still in poor physical conditioning. By chance while driving and station surfing on the radio I came across a public radio talk show called The People’s Pharmacy and they were discussing leg cramps. At first it sounded like old hippy nonsense to me because they were talking about cramps and drinking vinegar. But then the host started talking intelligently so I kept listening. Bottom line - when I felt a bad cramp coming on I’d jump off my bike and do a shot of apple cider - about 2oz - like a shot of tequila. Within 30 seconds to at most 1 minute my cramp would totally disappear. Was like a miracle. Slowly over the next year I got in much better shape and suffered no more cramps. But that Apple cider trick was amazingly effective. For me. The People’s Pharmacy peoplespharmacy.com/articles/busting-myths-and-offering-unique-leg-cramp-remedies

I've had left hamstring cramping issues for years. Always and only my left hamstring. After some research, and experimentation, I finally realized the reason for cramping....it was my sciatic nerve. By using an inversion table, back exercises, and adjusting my posture, I was able to rid the issue.

Yes, please make a video on yoga science studies!?

I can confirm that training helps the best: After training with increasing durations the cramps, that used to come after about 5 hrs into a race or century just didn't show up again. No cramps for more than 3 years, even when racing the longset distances (312 and 390km) ever.

Thanks for the great videos and training advice. I have to take in a bunch of salt to keep from cramping, mostly NaCl. I have done the experiment, N =1 :) Question for DJ: now that I and many others have been sucked into Zwift, how does weekly Zwift racing 20-50 min fit into an effective training program? I find it fun and motivating to race and it's an easy way to bring in intensity.

I am an occasional cramper. The remedy I think I found to fix cramping is Vitamin D3 + Ca and Mg Glycinate/Bisglycinate + Zinc of each combo separated intake in an interval no less than 2 hours, keeping in mind that vitamin D3 is fat soluble (it can accumulate in liver and fat tissues, thus overdose may lead to intoxication) and remember that water-soluble minerals are washed out of the body with water consumed, as well the concentration of water-solubles to a large extent depends on the amount of water drank.

Alright, yoga and performance. Thinks it's time after the 'dont bother stretching video. By the way your videos are awesome, keep it up.

Just did my first 50 mile ride in about 4-7 degrees Celsius, so pretty cold, felt great up to about 35miles then experienced the worst quad cramps imaginable, had to stop about 10 times during the last 15 miles taking my finish time from just under 3 hours to 4 hours and 10 mins. Never felt muscle pain like it, as someone who has been lifting and strength training for 10 years this was shocking to me. The teardrop part of my quad was split down the middle with spasming muscle fibres feeling like they were being electrocuted and forced to contract as hard as possible. Training for a 200 miles race in a few months and cannot have this happen again, if it happens in my race it will be game over

The best thing I have learned is to continue pedaling and back off on the efforts. I can usually work thru it and keep moving. My initial reaction was to stop, but that often led to a painful, full-on cramp.

Excellent video. I have a strange situation, that no specialist in almost a decade has been able to figure out. Have you come across any athletes, that after they're done Is there a respective sport, regardless of Cool down stretches, post hydrating et cetera,. They go into what I call a full body cramp attack. It starts with one muscle, and then multiple muscles will be pulling and cramping for almost an hour in an allowed attack. So forget about trying to stretch out that muscle, because immediately another one, and another 1 and another 1 start pulling and before you know it,. You're on the ground flailing like a fish out of the water and there's nothing you can do to stop. It is the most painful thing I've ever experienced in my life. , and no routines or hydration, or any methods i've ever learned about can stop it. I play competitive tennis, and used to play in tournaments that require multiple matches in a weekend. And now it's gotten to the point,. I'm too afraid to play a best of 3 set match because anything over an hour and a 1/2, especially if it's hot and humid I will. Go into the full body muscle cramping.

I have to agree with you. I tend to cramp if the race pace is higher than what I am used too. However, when this happens, I take one Rennie (calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate) and within a very short period, I am good to go. This has saved my life in many of my races and in some instances I have even gone on to win or podium.

Best summary of a poorly understood topic I’ve seen. Good job as always. Thanks

Your assessments and summary of the scientific literature are very impressive. Do you have someone help you with that or is it a skill that you picked up from riding with BackHatDJ?

Thank you for the explanation, I always was told, first of all my Dad who was a cyclist, don't forget the electrolytes

This is my experience. Double century rides and triathlon. The worst...both quads and hamstrings at the same time 200 feet before the finish at Chicago tri. Temp was around 65. As time goes on I found out 1500 milligrams of salt per hour and I was golden. Around 7 or 8 hours into a double I would get sleepy and heavy eyelids. Salt would wake me right up. Then I found out if I cut salt out of diet a month or two before event, cramping went away or almost no salt needed. I would keep track of my blood pressure, when it went down to a certain point, no cramping. For me 125 over 80 down to 105 over 70.

The muscular fatigue explanation fits my experiences of cramping. i.e. quad cramps in races when unfit.

11:07 the dollar bill LMAO! Thanks for the data!

Can you do a video on cramping after hard rides? My muscles.twitch constantly for hours and will cramp if I put them up on an ottoman.

Cramping is an excellent demonstrator of rumour and misinformation. The number of people that have bought into the electrolyte and/or hydration cause is incredible. However, watch a football or rugby match where they are constantly hydrated and when do the players all start cramping up? If and when the match goes into overtime. They're used to playing for 80/90 minutes but when they go past that, cramp hits a good proportion of the players. QED!

I was not that bad before but since I went plant based 20 years ago I do not get it any more . Not sure if it's got anything to do with it . Great video 🙂

The taste of the cramp fighter juice had me laughing so much I missed most of the rest of the video!

Old boy here, mag-glycinate and taurine have really helped cut down the frequency of my torture like night cramps.

I have gone into that literature deeply and my PhD is in pharmacology and physiology. My favorite theory is that damage to muscle fibers near endplates causes release of factors that cause the neurons release ACh in bursts, thereby causing cramping. I know of no exercise physiology evidence for this, but there are muscle factors that can affect neurotransmitter release (I was co-author on a paper that presented evidence for that in 1996 and we weren't the first). By the way, cramping increases with age. My cramps have never come during a ride, always an hour or so after.

Great video. I guess its time to train more haha

Is there any research on the impact of psychological/ mood/mindset on performance? Separately I wonder how much our mood impacts cramps etc. Most of us experience that if your in a poor mood and mentally tense, your muscles can tense up right?? What does the research say about mindset and performance? Thanks Dylan -Sam

WEIGHT LIFTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! made my cramps go away. :) great video!! Science!!!!!! that ties in to your other videos for incease insurance.

where can i get the hyper gain beast mode? are there different flavours?

I have cramped in the past. And really bad. The site for cramping was consistent. The same spot the muscles. I agree that conditioning is a big player as with my greater consistency in training cramping has become a super rare event.

Hi Dylan What's your opinion about products like high 5 zero xtreme caffeine zerocal zero sugar ? Is this a recipe for bonking ?

Right on the money. Golgi tendon organ, alpha neurons, genes and overexertion esp at end of a (hilly) comp are the main triggers for cramp. This is what the good studies show. Training the way you race (dist and intensity) will prob reduce cramping. Hydration, sodium, reducing body temp ie slowing down and proper gearing (spinning) may help if you’re a cramper. Also lowering your seat height a cm or 2 may help. Good luck!

Hey, want to do a video on science behind ketones? We here about them all the time, gcn say they "felt" better, after consumption, but I'm curious about real scientific research. I now read that they have actually impaired time-trial performance.

Yes, i have stopped a cramping by do sets of high frequency breathing and fight it mentally

Its interesting, i had never cramped before but late last year while on a harder than normal ride i had time to do a quad stretch while i waited for someone and then my hamstring cramped. It was excruciating. It then took a few months not to feel like my hamstring was going to cramp every day while i walked around at work. So i don't stretch during rides anymore.

dehydration, you feel the cramps first in your calves