Cramp while cycling? Solve seizing muscles with this 15-point checklist from a health and performance professor

Dr Kevin Miller, cramp expert at Texas State University, has the latest advice on how to avoid that agonising tightening feeling

Cyclist grabbing his hamstring with cramp
(Image credit: Richard Butcher)

There are certain nagging questions in cycling that have a tendency to generate conflicting opinions and a confusing array of different views. In this ASK THE EXPERT series from Cycling Weekly’s print edition, we seek to clear up confusion by seeking out the experts best qualified to provide, if not the final word, then at least authoritative advice supported by verified expertise.

Dr Kevin Miller, a professor in the department of health and human performance at Texas State University, studies exercise-associated muscle cramping. In this feature he answers our questions about what cramp is, why it happens and what the latest research says about how to combat it.

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David Bradford
Features editor

David Bradford is features editor of Cycling Weekly (print edition). He has been writing and editing professionally for more than 15 years, and has published work in national newspapers and magazines including the Independent, the Guardian, the Times, the Irish Times, Vice.com and Runner’s World. Alongside his love of cycling, David is a long-distance runner with a marathon PB of two hours 28 minutes. Having been diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) in 2006, he also writes about sight loss and hosts the podcast Ways of Not Seeing.