I am not sure this should be in fitness or nutrition. Apologies if it is in the wrong forum.

I work out hard daily and sweat out a lot of Water but do not take in a lot of electrolytes nor do I add salt much to food. I got really bad leg cramps at the end of a hard workout today where I had trouble completing the jumping part of the workout.

My diet is mostly low sodium , a lot of lean Protein, protein shakea and veggies. I take Vitamins and do supplement with magnesium and some potassium to balance Calcium daily. I do not know how to add sodium / iodine to my diet to avoid this cramping from loss of fluids. I do not have electrolyte drinks readily available. I always thought consuming extra salt was a bad thing from conventional wisdom (water retention, hardening of arteries, heart concerns etc).

How can I safely increase sodium in a practical way? Just sprinkle salt in water? I am not used to adding extra salt to food.

Fiddleman, you'll need to increase you potassium and magnesium to stop your cramping. Supplements for leg cramps are out there but bananas and raisins are a couple of the best natural products for this. Often one banana will fix this for in a matter of minutes.

Thanks, I will up my potassium levels.

If you get cramps when you're not working out or heart palpitations, you probably need to have labs. Esp given how burned out you were feeling last week.

You also can get cramps from dehydration. On days with a lot of cardio, I drink vitamin water zero full strength. I usually dilute it with regular water.

You're so good at researching info. You'll figure it out.

It was/is just a problem during longer workouts and most likely is attributed to dehydration. I probably did not get enough water this morning, which is a bit strange because I always drink 120+ oz of flavored water by afternoon. I just had a huge panel of blood tests for the WLS center and everything was in range. No problem there. I am going to see if cutting back on some caffeine will help with dehydration that occurs from time to time on the long metabolic conditioning (met con) workouts.

What mass index said. Also, I expr these things as well at one time, when I was at my most insane with crossfit, my doctor told me that most people should be on a low sodium diet, but not me. Not that she was giving me carte blanche to inhale salt, just that I shouldn't go out of my way to be low sodium. Also fyi and I'm sure you know this already, drinking a ton of Water when you are losing salts via sweating or illness, can exacerbate the situation, flushing out even more vital salts and minerals.

Interesting. So you think there may be some water toxicity happening? Like I said above, my diet is pretty much void of anything but lean protein, veggies and some low glycemic carbs. I will have to see about balancing out the electrolytes and water without radically changing my diet as not looking to suddenly start eating high glycemic fruit like bananas. Drinking large quantities of water is so habitual for me now it would be strange to cut back on it.

Edited January 23, 201412 yr by Fiddleman

Now I am confused. I was just looking at the ingredients on the xtend bcaa product I take and it is full of electrolytes in the form of a special blend and levels of potassium / sodium.

http://www.amazon.com/Scivation-Intra-Workout-Catalyst-Watermelon-Servings/dp/B005CH0DT4/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390482765&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=Xyend

I drink a lot of this stuff so I must be getting my electrolytes daily. Hmm..

Here's a left field idea. Could the weather or season contribute?

I find the cold weather and heat running all the time is making me feel like a dehydrated piece of poop. I'm still drinking the same amount but I feel run down and feel thirsty even right after drinking. Buddy of mine told me the skin is an organ and if it gets all dehydrated you will and should feel something bad. I don't use any lotion or anything besides soap. If the skin is taking the brunt of the dehydrating effects of the air, would it pull the nutrients before the muscles can get them?

This is why Im not a doctor!

Jay

HUUN tabs in your water. This had helped me a lot with longer rides. My entire family suffers from severe leg cramps and has for generations. While there is little science into cramps and no cure there are homeopathic things like the potassium and magnesium but they are not cure all's. Dehydration is my bet. Adding electrolytes (salt) to your daily regimen should help you. Also finding your pre cursor. I can tell when I am going to get a cramp and can start flexing (loading and working that leg) or stretching it out to divert it.

Fiddle, just because you are getting a lot of electrolytes daily, doesn't mean you are absorbing them, there may be an absorption issue and you may still be getting too much Water for the amt of electros you are getting. I'm also a little concerned that your diet is so rigid that you won't even consider a banana ...

I had 1/2 a banana yesterday with som Justin's PB before my workout

Seriously, I have just gotten in the habit of eating this way as a post op. It is like breathing air for me. I do not have any desire to eat fruit, bread, dairy stuff. It just does not appeal to me any longer. Nor do I consume sugar (takes some will power at times) or levels of sodium not found already in a food item (try to keep it low though). I eat Protein and veggies every opportunity I get. I do drink a heck of a lot of Water to support a clean system. I think on average I fill my 32 oz bottle 7-8 x a day.

Whoa on the water. That is excessive. Slow it down a little.

What do you think would be a good amount of Water daily for an active cross fit guy? Working out intensely requires a lot of water for healthy liver and kidney function, especially when we take in a large amount of Protein for building muscle.

I've read .03-.04 L per kg of weight for active guys that are body building or highly active in something like cross fit daily. I weigh 81.6 kg (180 #) so that is about 2.5 -3.3 L. There are 33.8 Oz in a liter. That equates to a range of 204 - 276 oz per day for my weight. If we divide that range by 32 oz then that equates to 6.4 - 8.6 fills a day. Filling my bottle 7 x a day falls right in the medium.

Keep in mind that filling me bottle 7-8 x feels " natural" and idid this based on instinct, not on the calculation I just performed. However, it is helpful to see that my instinct and the calculation are not that far off.

Edited January 26, 201412 yr by Fiddleman

Seems the litmus test is to reduce by about a liter and see how you feel/perform. You might just have a super dooper effective filtering system there Fiddle

Ya what CBT said AND adding a bit if Celtic sea salt to your diet to find some balance. I hear you saying you don't like salt, I am the same but I force myself to add some. Hold some fluids that way! You may be flushing to well.