How To Deal With Muscle Cramps While Bicycle Riding
Muscle cramps happen. A cramp is a muscle contracting when you don’t tell it to. It stays contracted to a painful extent. Cramps have ruined several races for cyclists. If you get cramps at night while in bed, the usual thing is to get out of bed and stand up to make the cramp go away. To get rid of a cramp, stretch it. In the case of a cramp while in bed, move your foot in the toes to nose direction and straighten the knee. When you get back in bed, be sure to keep your knee straight and make sure your toes point away. If you sleep on your stomach, let you foot hang over the bed.
It’s the big muscles that cramp up. Muscles like the calf, hamstrings, and quads. Some of the exceptions are muscles in the feet and hands. Have you had a foot cramp that has forced you off of your bike?
The next time you get cramps, try the following tips:
If you get a cramp in your calf muscle, try bending your knee and point your toes down. If you’re on a bike, put the crank in the 6 o’clock position, slide back in the saddle, lock your knee straight and drop you heel as far as you can get it to go. To flush it, stay back in the saddle, point toes towards your nose and make the muscle work in the 4-6 o’clock part of the pedal stroke. Let it go along for the fide in the rest of the pedal stroke.
To help with a hamstring cramp, stay seated and put your hands on your right thigh close to the knee, so your left hand is on the inside of your thigh and your right hand just on the outside. Use your index finger and middle finger to find the tendon. Follow where they attach to the leg. To uncramp while on a bike, put the crank at a 5 o’clock position, slide back in the saddle, bend forward from the hip and lock your knee straight. Don’t point your toes up or down. Try a few pedal strokes like this, slide back in the saddle, bend at the hip and pull down on the stroke at a 4 o clock range.
One thing you have to keep in mind before getting on your bike is to stretch for several minutes and be sure to drink plenty of water. This will reduce the possibility of cramping up while riding.