Why do athletes cramp during endurance training and racing? Unfortunately, no one really knows the direct cause of the cramping. Cramping in general has many different causes ranging from metabolic errors, medication, to electrolyte imbalances.
The heat cramp, the most common cramp associated with prolonged exercise, has been proposed to be helped by adjusting an athlete's hydration plan. In an article by Matthew Ganio et al, (Clinics in Sports Medicine, 26, 2007) he describes two cases where athletes where plagued by debilitating heat cramps. In both cases, the researches found an increase concentration of salt in the sweat of the athlete effectively leaving the athlete in a salt-deficient state. Replacement of the salt resolved the cramps. A related study mentioned in the article studied football players with a history of muscle cramps. Those players who complained of having cramps were found to have an increased amount of salt in their sweat. Salt replacement again resolved the cramping.
So, for those endurance athletes who describe themselves as "salt-cakers" and find their performance compromised by cramps, salt tablets may be the solution.
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