HAMMY CRAMPS DURING HIM
Hey folks, I recently did a HIM in my run up to IM Arizona. I have always had cramping issues, but this past year I have dedicated myself to nailing down my nutrition. I enrolled in the Core Diet plan, and I have had no real issues during training, BUT during the HIM I came off the bike and immediately had pretty severe hamstring cramps. Stopped, stretched, subsided...took salt...ran. Hammy's locked up couple more times. Couple footnotes; I carried perform on the run, but ran out and had to live off the course (watery HEED) and 3/4 through race ran out of salt stick.
QUESTION: other than more electrolytes and proper Hydration; What can I do from now until the IM to reduce the percentages of a Hammy cramp; i.e. Hammy Strength exercises? In race protocols?
Worried.....
Comments
Hopefully you have time to heal this issue up with your hammies. My 2 cent suggests you are over training and the hamstrings don't want to play the game to that level.
Damage control, stop running start icing jump in pool for your runs do the elliptical. If your still racing this may be your only option. Make sure your cadence is short and high 90 per min.
Moving forward, Stretch after your workouts take sometime to do this nice and light 15-30 sec would be good. High reps 10-15, on a prone leg curl machine to allow the hamstrings to build some muscle to keep up with the stronger quads. Lastly, do your core work.
I had a local friend of mine that had issues with her hammy, thought to be hydration/nutrition-related, but ended up having a saddle rail broken, which created an uneven seat. That caused a leg length issue and fatigued her hammy, not cramped. Sometimes they present in the same way.