The Most Misunderstood Concept In Running

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Honestly, I think this is the most informative and relevant video I have ever seen on YT.

I feel like I was taken to school. This was a fantastic video, I learned so much!

I just found this channel and it's so wonderful! ❤

Absolutely great information. Thanks for this video.

Hi there I'm a 62 year old sports enthusast, I indoor row, cycle, swim, played junior rugby, squash and yes Run (not very fast !) I keep getting cramp at about 3/4 k on a Park Run for a few years, always thought it was pulled calf muscle but this is it CRAMP thank you !!! not quite sure what the solution is but rehydration better nutrition and strength training is the way forward Brilliant !!!!

I don’t cramp during training but always cramp on race days- especially on 30km 😢

Thanks for the great insight!

I'm currently taking AP 2 and this was very helpful to understand the lecture . Thank you

I agree. I have mostly serious cramps immediately after Marathon because of fatique. But never during training runs.

Amazing video! Thanks for this. You earned a sub.

It’s a three legged stool. Nutrition, Hydration and training. That is what I have determined after years of fighting cramps and it nice to see this video articulate it so well. The one most difficult part for me was determining the nutrition part. My doctor who is also a cyclist suggested I try Sports Legs a nutrition supplement. Obviously there is something in its ingredients that addressed my deficiency because the cramps have stopped. The day I forgot to take the supplement was the day I cramped. Obviously it won’t work for everyone because of the different causes but if you have been chasing you tail around not getting anywhere it’s worth a try.

I am a competitive cyclist. I do sometimes have inner thigh and quad cramps towards the end of long endurance rides. This is obviously triggered by fatigue, dehydration, and low electrolytes. But I also have incredibly bad upper leg, lower leg, and foot cramps that wake me up when I am sleeping—whether I have worked out that day or not. However, I have learned a pressure point technique that is amazing. Whether on the bike or waking up in my bed, I bite down on my lower lip and hold it for a few seconds. I then alternate biting my lower lip, upper lip, and tip of the tongue—over and over again. This has the same effect as pickle juice, mustard, ginger, cayenne, or cinnamon—I assume it stimulates the receptors so that the muscles can start to relax. I think of it as "confusing the brain" into stopping sending the conflicting signals to the muscles. It is not instantaneous, but it eventually does work.

I haven't had a cramp since high school, where I learned about the 8 symptoms of dehydration, after that never again.

Really interesting vid. 👌 I used to have night cramps, but for me, stretching my toes towards me just after going to bed, plus taking magnesium sorted it. It's rarely a problem now

I don't do long runs as a rule, nor do I cramp as a rule. However on one long run, II was descending off a large sloping bridge and on one foot plant my right leg just locked right up. Just locked. Wholly cow! I was still 7km from home. I had to shuffle/walk my way back. It eventually unlocked, but I couldn't run. I had to walk. The other was recently, a 16km run. When I got home I had these horrible abdominal cramps, even though I'd been hydrating properly, but not enough electrolytes. Relief quickly came after drinking 300ml of electrolyte recover SPARK, I think. Thanks for the skeletal muscle physiology refresher and the agonist/antagonist leg analogy. Very interesting.

Interesting video, thanks. I get two quite a specific types of cramping. In my feet when when I am doing mobility exercises, where I am low down and putting weight on my feet and ankles and the second is in my calves, usually at night. I do take in electrolytes after EVERY run and I do bodyweight, strength exercises three times a week. Any thoughts on this at all?

I get cramps from time to time during high-intensity running or biking for more than 30 min without pause. After a gentle stretch I can continue the training by reducing the intensity just a little bit, focusing completely at sparing the affected muscle as much as possible (my left leg is much weaker than the right one, and it is the one cramping). I can continue surprisingly well (very asymmetric, but still fast) at the edge of the cramp and I am sure that it is a great training to reduce the risk of cramping in the future. But it may work only for jogging and riding, where one can concentrate on the effort, as opposed to football or basketball, where the focus is on the game dynamics and short maximum intensity sprints are required regularly.

Where does the statistic that only 30% of running cramps comes from electrolytes imbalance or hydration come from? Also, nerve conduction relies on ion transport across the nerve cell membrane (electrolytes), but at the junction between the neuron and the muscle the transmission relies on acetylcholine as a neurotransmitter, not electrolytes.

Watching the video because from the thumbnail I didn't know whether cramps were the most misunderstood concept in running, or cramps don't exist was the most misunderstood concept in running.