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Cramping my Style
I think I had always been quite lucky with my running. Except for a wee bit of ITB about 15 years ago, the only thing that kept me out of running was repeatedly damaging my ankle ligaments on the soccer field, but otherwise my running had always felt pretty smooth. Until this past year. Suddenly my legs were no longer playing ball … – BY SEAN FALCONER, MODERN ATHLETE EDITOR
What I found was that my calves felt like they were seizing up when I ran. Not out-and-out cramping, but it felt like they were on their way to that, and it meant that I could barely go for a short jog without needing to take regular walk breaks every few kays. I really was not enjoying my running, which made me less inclined to want to head out the front door, which in turn saw my fitness levels plummet, and my weight start to pick up.
Chance Meeting in Soweto
Then I was asked to be the roaming MC at the Old Mutual Soweto Marathon Expo, and one of the stands I had to promote on the mic was the Best 4 Sport stand selling the CrampNot gel supplements. The second I found out the details and talked about this product on the mic on the first day of the Expo, I added that I would be coming to buy some myself, given that I was struggling with cramping muscles, and the helpful guys on the stand were more than happy to tell me more.
They explained that CrampNot is the world’ s first commercially available neuromuscular supplement to prevent and treat exercise-associated muscle cramps, because research has shown that muscle cramping is primarily caused by the uncontrolled and repetitive firing of alpha motor neurons in the spinal cord. Therefore, the quickest and easiest way to prevent or treat cramping is to inhibit the firing of the motor neurons that instruct the muscle to cramp. That’ s why CrampNot stimulates primary sensory neurons in the mouth, oesophagus and stomach, using extracts of cayenne pepper and cinnamon, and mutes the response of the alpha motor neuron lesion, which essentially blocks the cramping signal to the muscles. For that reason, they told me to take the supplement half an hour before my runs, and not to drink the gel down with water, because you need to let the pepper burn a wee bit in the mouth to stimulate the mouth, oesophagus and stomach.
Same Reaction …
Yes, like you, I stood there going, OK, no fine, so you’ re giving me an energy gel with some pepper in it to stop my leg muscles cramping? I will admit that I was somewhat sceptical. It sounded like science fiction, but I have always tried to keep an open mind and I agreed to test the product for myself. Hey, what did I have to lose? And besides, I really like cinnamon … and the gels came in two of my favourite flavours, lime and pineapple.
Well, boy was I pleasantly surprised by the results. Before my next run, I took one of the CrampNot gels and experienced the ever so slight burn in the mouth, and then I got on with the run. Normally I would be walking by about two kays in, with tight calves and complaining quads, but this time I felt much more comfortable and actually enjoyed a run for the first time in months. However, I don’ t just believe in one-offs or possible coincidences, so I used a gel before my next run, a 15km trail running event that started by going straight up a mountain. Normally that would have had my legs screaming for mercy … but once again I was running smoothly, by comparison to previous months.
Nod of Approval
I used the gels before my next five runs, and every single time I had no problems with the tightness in the legs that had plagued my running for months. That allowed me to start running further and faster, which in turn made me want to run more, which meant I began to regain fitness … and friends and family quickly remarked that I was looking a bit trimmer. This was superb! So I am convinced that CrampNot gels not only work, but they got me up and running again.
38 ISSUE 90 JANUARY 2017 / www. modernathlete. co. za