The Real Reason You Cramp Up In A Race
Mike Deibler 
Muscle cramps can be incredibly painful and inconvenient during a race. This post shares what really causes cramps and how you can prevent them.
Has this ever happened to you?
You are running during a race and everything seems to be going well so far. You have a long climb you just finished and a wall in front of you to hop over. You run up the wall and jump and that's when it happens.
A sniper came out of know where and got you. All of a sudden your calf is in a ball and you can't move.
Cramps are common sights during OCR and can prevent you from finishing a race when they are bad. There are many misconceptions about what causes muscle cramps and preventing them.
First it is important understand there are different types of cramps out there. Two of the more common types we might see in OCR are electrolyte imbalance (heat cramps) and neuromuscular fatigue cramps.
Most assume they are suffering from the first one, but these are less common than you think. It is definitely possible to experience heat cramps during a race. If you aren't drinking enough water before the race, aren't paying attention to electrolytes, and are racing in environment like hot weather, high humidity, or at altitude. If you combine these things, there is a really good chance you will get a heat cramp.
The prevent this it is pretty simple. Pay attention to those things. Don't just drink water and electrolytes the day of your race, make sure the days leading up to these events you are staying hydrated. Race day might be too late if you are stating out dehydrated.
But the reality is, most people do pay attention to these things. We see racers with hydration packs and electrolyte packets everywhere. Usually doing too much of this stuff. I would bet many racers end up being more hydrated at the end of the race than they were at the beginning.
So the more likely cramping issue is neuromuscular fatigue problems.
These types of cramps are a little more complicated to explain. It is essential faulty wiring between the central nervous system and the muscles.
There are different nerve receptors in muscle that help with muscle contraction (muscle spindles) and muscle relaxation (golgi tendon organs). Sometimes during prolonged intense exercise there is an imbalance of these and the muscle continue to contract without relaxing (cramp).
This isn't a water or electrolyte problem, so drinking more won't help. During the cramp, there are things you can do to help. Massage is one easy thing to do. When you massage the muscle cramp it starts to let go and relax. It may happen again but it will at least give some relief.
You might have heard of things like mustard and pickle juice. These will work as well. Not because of sodium or electrolytes though. There are compounds in foods like this, that help calm down the nervous system. They can help relieve a cramp pretty quickly.
But how do we prevent these types of cramps in the first place?
The secret is in your training. You will usually get this types of cramps when your muscles are doing something they aren't used to doing. So instead of getting an injury like a muscle tear, they cramp up to prevent you from doing further damage.
While we can't train super hard all the time, it is important that we do hit race like intensities ever so often to help prepare of muscles for this. Specifically do it in a way they will experience in a race.
So for example if you notice you cramp up like the example I gave of climbing a hill then trying to jump, try training in similar situations. You can try a 30 second wall sit and then immediate perform squat jumps following. Drills like this will build up that intensity so you are less likely to experience cramps during the race.
Maybe the most important thing you can do is simulation training days. You can't do these all of the time, but ever so often you are hitting a bit workout that will simulate the race. This will be workouts that will hit the distances you are trying to cover or maybe the time you are planning to be out there.
These simulation workouts are tough but they give you a ton of information about where you are at what what you need to work on.
I would much rather cramp up in a training session versus race day.
Check out my program all about tactical and simulation training to help you get race day ready and avoid those annoying muscle cramps.
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Categories: : Injury Prevention
