EndurElite Chief Endurance Officer Matt Mosman reviews Pickle Juice Sport and discusses some strategies to prevent cramping from happening in the first place.
Video Transcription:
Woman: Do not listen to this dumb song.
Children: Gedney, it's a Minnesota pickle. Get me a Gedney, it's a Minnesota pickle. Bring on more Gedney, it's an ordinary...
Matt: Good morning family of Fast, Matt Mosman, the Chief Endurance Officer over at EndurElite. Yesterday we posted a video about pickle juice and if it can help with cramping and we got a ton of comments about some pretty pickle passionate people, try to say that three times fast, about how good it works and how good it tastes and how much they love it. So while there's no doubt that pickle juice works and kinda helps with cramps, I'm a little cautious about the taste. And I saw a product keep popping up and that is Pickle Juice Sport. And that's exactly what you think it is. It is pickle juice in a bottle. And this one just happens to be extra strength pickle juice. Now I don't know what makes it extra strength but hey, we're just gonna go for it.
Pickle Juice Sport Taste Test
So today, I'm gonna actually put this thing to the test because all these people will tell me that it's so delicious and they love it. So we're gonna try this right now and I don't know if I'm gonna have a weird reaction or a gag reflex, so let's just see what happens. So we crack it open, let's take a smell real quick. Well, it smells like pickle juice. All right, down the... Now, before I do this, if I have a bad reaction, I don't want any of you sending the pickle police after me, so be forewarned. I don't know what's gonna happen, let's give this a try. Pickle Juice Sport shot.
It's not actually too bad in my humble opinion. Yeah, it's all right. Was it still be something I would probably take during a race to help with cramping? Maybe. Especially compared to Hotshot, I think that's better and if it does work I think that's a good option. But I still think I'd be hard-pressed to take a shot of that during a race and be okay with it. I know, I am the totally odd man out here and I know you have a lot...a lot of you like the pickle juice shots and whatnot but I don't think I'm sold on the taste of it quite honestly, so we're gonna conduct another experiment with, you know, when a cramp comes on, what you can do. And it seems like cramps occur because of like I said the spasmodic alpha motor neurons firing and that's kinda getting the muscle all up in arms. But it seems like a pungent or kinda like shot to the system kinda helps override this. So I'm gonna run a new experiment here and I want you to all sign up or be volunteers for it. So I'm gonna bring you to Spearfish, South Dakota, we're gonna take you in the lab. We're gonna dehydrate you and then we're gonna cause you to cramp and then I will personally come slap you across the face and we're gonna see if that helps with crampings. Just kidding, kind of. So Pickle Juice Sport, yeah it's not bad. It tastes pretty good, kind of. Would I still do it? No. But again I'm the odd man out, if it works, you like it, definitely stick with it.
How To Prevent Cramping In The First Place
With the video yesterday too, a lot of people brought up the question, you know, the pickle juice can help when the cramps start to occur like in race and training, but what can you do to actually prevent cramps from happening in the first place? And the straight answer is, nobody really knows, honestly. There's a lot of theories out there as to why cramps occurs and some of the methods you can utilize to prevent cramping from happening in the first place. But anybody tells you that they have an exact answer is full of baloney. But, you know, the most popular theory awhile back was that cramping was caused by an electrolyte balance and since, you know, 10 years ago this kinda theory has been kinda dismissed. There's very weak evidence that electrolyte balance, you know, causes cramping or if you take a lot of electrolytes before a race that's gonna prevent cramping. But I'm not sold on that. Does it have something to do with it, maybe just a little bit, maybe. I don't know. But the more popular theory again is cramping is caused by neuromuscular fatigue. The muscles get tired and the nervous system just kinda goes a little bit crazy and this causes alpha motor neurons to again spasmodically fire impulses to the muscle that cause them to cramp and just be a real pain in the ass. So in my opinion, this is the most likely theory behind cramping.
There's also a theory out there that cramping is caused by a rise in muscle acidity as exercise intensity decreases and the acidic muscle kinda shuts down and the cramping acts as kinda a protective measure. But, again I'm really not too onboard with that theory. I'm more onboard with the theory that it's caused by neuromuscular fatigue.
So now, the million-dollar question is, how can you prevent cramping from happening in the first place? And again, there's not one right answer here but we can make some educated guesses. My best advice to prevent cramping in the first place is to basically train how you're gonna race so your body is fully prepared for the demand that it's gonna be put through. So, you know, if you're training really hard for a race that's gonna involve, you know, a long duration or high-intensities or a little bit of both, you wanna match your training to that. So when you come into the race your body's used to it, it's prepared. Like for example, Dirty Kanza 200. You can't expect to go out and do the Dirty Kanza 200, you know, riding 50 miles a week and just riding that slowly. I mean, Dirty Kanza is long, there's hills, it can be intense. You know, it's just a perfect recipe for cramping if you go in undertrained for a race and you blow right out of the gates at a pace you're not used to. Yeah, cramping it's probably gonna happen so you're not, you know, you're not used to that.
Other ways to prevent cramping. Make sure you have adequate carbohydrate consumption before and during the race, that may help a little bit. And there's some supplements that may help with cramping too. Again, to what extent I don't think anybody really knows but beta-alanine at 3.2 grams daily maybe help...may help prevent cramping. The baking soda route which we had a video on a little bit ago, maybe. Alkaline water, coconut water, you know, crap like that, no That's not gonna do jack squat for you.
So those are kinda my recommendations how to prevent cramping and again, a lot of you are gonna have all these different methods or tried-and-true strategies that prevent cramping. And I highly encourage you to stick with those until a more clear answer comes about as far as, you know, what causes cramping and what prevents it. And if you do happen to get a cramp during a race, let me recommend Pickle Juice Sport. Actually, not too bad.
All right my endurance friends, that is all I have for today. If you have a friend that cramps a lot or like pickle juice, please share this video with them. If you want other videos like this on endurance training, nutrition, supplementation, and weird trends like pickle juice, subscribe to the EndurElite YouTube channel or head on over to the EndurElite blog at www.endurelite.com. Get social with us on Instaslam, and the Facebook training and nutrition club page. And until next time my endurance friends, stay fueled, stay focused, and stay fast.
