Muscle cramps during contest?

[Dave Bourgeois]

I have been getting some sever muscle cramps during my competitions. My quads, hams, calfs, abs all seem to cramp up. It is really killing my performance. Searching for tips or advice. Here is what I normally do before a competition or training. I try not to do anything new before a competition if I haven’t already tried it out in training.

2 hours before competition I will have a met-rx bar

About an hour to 30mins before I sip on 20oz of waxy maize, creatine, protein and 1-2 packs of stamina that contains electrolytes. I will also have some caffeine at this time about 200mg

I will then switch off between water and gatoraid with a little bit of taurine/bcaa’s mixed in during the contest. If the contest goes long say 4+hours I will try to eat something at the half way mark.

However I still cramp up.

In my last comp, I drank a ton of water/gatoraid. I also took some salt tablets before the competition. I had a bar halfway, and then two bananas. I don’t think I could have taken any more fluids in. I also had plenty of down time between the events to recover. I cramped up in the middle of my stone run. It was the worse that it had ever been. Everything just seemed to lock up. After my run I tried to stretch out a bit, but the hour-long car ride home didn’t help. I was continuing to cramp up until the next day!

Any advice, tips or help would be great

[James Whisman]

Everything your doing looks good. I usually try to sip (4-6 zo) a whey shake after every event. Chocolate milk is actually one of the best after workout recovery drinks.

Something to consider: They may not be cramps but spasms. These are usually caused when the muscle exerts itself harder then it is use to. I know nothing about your traning, and am just throwing this out there, but it could be a conditioning issue

[Paul Neuhaus]

It sounds like you're doing all of your pre-hydrating within a couple hours of your competition. For me, that doesn't give my body enough time to soak it all in, which is why I do all of my hydrating the night before a contest.

I usually drink 2 bottles of Pedialyte (i buy the generic at 1/2 the price) the evening before a contest. I have one right after weighing in, and another a few hours later, then I drink water and eat carbs (pizza or pasta) the rest of the night. By following this method, I've always woken up feeling like a million bucks and never cramped up at a contest. If the contest is in really hot conditions, I'll sip on more Pedialyte during the contest, but I dilute it 50/50 with water and mix in some whey.

[davebeers]

you're taking in way too much crap, imo you need to simply things

A large meal 2-3 hrs prior to competing, eat whatever you want. Personally i like uncle hershell's favorite from cracker barell without about 6 glasses of water. I've seen dan harrison eat about 15 yogurts and a dozen glasses of milk.
Point is eat what you can and eat alot of it. Drink 2x as much as you want to.

At the contest have some simple carbs in the form of candy between events along with enough water that i have to pee every 20 mintues. Bite sized snickers and/or brownies are perfect snacks between events.

[Paul Neuhaus]

.....I forgot the Snickers. I also eat them between events.

[davebeers]

.....I forgot the Snickers. I also eat them between events.
lol...."I'm on the pudzianowski diet!"

[Paul Neuhaus]

lol...."I'm on the pudzianowski diet!"
You know it!!! I bring 5 or 6 to every contest, and it's the best "between events" snack I've ever had!

[Dave Bourgeois]

Thanks for the tips guys. I do notice that when its hot out, i tend to sweat a lot and cramp up. When its cool outside I dont really cramp up as I am not sweating as much. So i think it has to do with some type of electrolyte imbalance. I think I am going to have to increase fluids/electrolytes the week prior, and take more salt tablets before and mid point in the contest.

I also think It might be help full to start doing some sled dragging/pushing a few times a weeks to help condition the legs for more endurance.

[Matt Krill]

I've coached football and trained a lot for it also. August in the midwest can be miserable, and I am more like you. I cramp easily and get dehydrated easily. My system is pretty sensitive, so I had to do something to stay on the field and keep my players on the field.

I learned best when I trained one summer at an acceleration training center where we ran on high-speed treadmills for short-burst, timed interval training. We kept the heart rate up above 130 for upwards of 30 minutes and it would consistently spike to near-max levels. I found that if I even had Coke or Diet Coke any time in the previous two days, I felt bad. I started taking potassium and magnesium supplements, and it seemed to make me feel better. I had read the ratio of potassium to sodium was most important, as most of us get plenty of salt. But the biggest difference was hydrating at least two complete days prior with a gallon and a half of water and gatorade. No coffee or carbonated beverages anywhere near competition, preferably for 4 days prior.

There aren't many Americans that need salt tablets if you follow this. Just make sure your vitamin intake also supports performance.

[Ryan Wells]

You can actually over hydrate and flush important trace-minerals out of your system. I wouldn't say cut back on water/sports drink, but take a multi-mineral supplement along with a good multi-vitamin. Also, it is important to note that caffeine is a diuretic. It can aid in dehydration.

I agree with Dave: Too much crap can put your body's PH in an acidic state--excellent for inflammation and dehydration.

Matt's got the right idea.