Help with Running Cramps

Running cramps, particularly running calf cramps, afflict everyone from the person going out for a morning jog, to elite athletes. And it's not just runners that get cramps they can be a factor in any sport - tennis, swimming, golf, cycling and triathlon. This site is dedicated to sharing ideas and information between sports people, athletes, health practitioners, anyone who enjoys training - for the best ways to prevent, avoid and treat muscle cramp.

Monday, May 29, 2006

Hill Cramps - The Difference Beween First and Ninth Place

Leg Cramps and an Uphill Battle

Sipho Ngomane doesn't like running uphill – he gets leg cramps - and he admits his chances of winning this year’s 85.7 Ultra Marathon race between Pietermaritzburg and Durban aren’t very good.

The race leaders will do 85km in about 5 and ½ hours – that’s a long way to go and a big drain on the energy reserves.

There’s actually a lot even an experienced athlete can do to avoid cramps caused by fatigue, even in an 85km event such as this.

In Ultimate Cramp Busting Guide we set aside specific chapters dealing with pre-race nutrition, training techniques, energy techniques and procedures you can used during the race you’re unlucky enough to suffer a cramp.

One of the training techniques I’ve been very successful with is increasing the component of hill training for marathon runners. Hill training workouts and changing our exercise patterns definitely take your muscles out of the comfort zone and may initially result in more cramping.

This is exactly what you should aim to do – in training. It’s very common for marathoners to suffer calf cramps when running up hills, particularly if the hills are in the latter stages of the race

By applying just a couple of the nutrition suggestions, slightly altering your intake ratio of carbohydrates, fat and protein, and modifying your training a little, your chances of suffering cramps are seriously reduced.

And in the high altitude conditions likely to be experienced in this race the cramp-breaking program we outline will only be enhanced . . . the key is energy – having enough available, having enough for a long term and hang enough of the mineral cofactors needed to release it.

And as the article points out, this means the difference between a “dismal ninth place” and having a top three finish.

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