Originally Posted by
Mike T
Cramp is your muscles telling you that you are doing something you have not trained them for, be it brute effort, endurance, adopting a particular position, temperature, or a combination of these. It is not felt to be associated with hydration or electrolyte status - but once you get into true ultra territory, it all becomes a bit anecdotal. The American ultra runners are keen on pickle juice, which contains a lot of salt, but as it "works" virtually instantly it is probably an awful tasting distraction rather than something truly therapeutic. I suspect the same applies to tonic water.