Foot cramps. Any tips?

[Tritzzy]

So I am just learning but my learning is being slowed quite a bit due to terrible cramps in the foot that I put all my weight on to get onto the unicycle. 

I am a overweight dude (I am working on it heavily) so I know that doesn't help. But any other tips would be much appreciated. 

[Tawpie]

You are using feet muscles that have never been used like this ever before! They need to get in shape. This should pass with regular riding.

I have to move my feet around. Just raising my heels or toes helps. Take breaks and walk for 20 yards. Make sure you are well hydrated.

Also try to be aware of your feet... are your toes clenching? Do you feel like you're riding on the inside or outside of your feet? I try to ride with weight as equally distributed as possible—bending at the ankles rather than transferring weight to the balls of my feet.

[Tritzzy]

7 minutes ago, Tawpie said:

You are using feet muscles that have never been used like this ever before! They need to get in shape. This should pass with regular riding.

I have to move my feet around. Just raising my heels or toes helps. Take breaks and walk for 20 yards. Make sure you are well hydrated.

Also try to be aware of your feet... are your toes clenching? Do you feel like you're riding on the inside or outside of your feet? I try to ride with weight as equally distributed as possible—bending at the ankles rather than transferring weight to the balls of my feet.

Definitely clenching my toes hard, I think I need to put my feet back further on the pedals, but yeah I am currently just doing like 5-6 10 minute training sessions a day. 

[alcatraz]

It's normal. Some adjustment can be made later to fine tune things, but as you're starting out it's probably best to just relax and increase your riding time incrementally.

Adjust the tire pressure. It needs to be in balance with your weight. Not just pumped up hard.

Comfy sneakers. Stretch your feet before/mid/after ride. Work your toes, front ball joint and calf a bit.

When you relax and get it in shape you can ride until you get bored basically. 

[meepmeepmayer]

Your toes will instinctively try and grip the pedals. So it helps to be aware of that and to consciously relax your feet and toes to prevent tense muscles.

The rest is practice and your body getting used to the new situation.

[mhpr262]

Just getting off and walking a couple dozen steps helps immensely I have found. It helps the more the earlier you do it, if you wait until the pain is really bad you wont get out of the pain zone again. Also experiment with different shoes, different foot placement on the pedals and diffrent pedal tilt angles, form +3° to -3°.

[TantasStarke]

10 hours ago, mhpr262 said:

Just getting off and walking a couple dozen steps helps immensely I have found.

Definitely, if I step off even for 3 seconds it makes a huge difference to let me keep going. I can do a ton of miles in a day, I just frequently have to take these teeny tiny little stops. Taking my shoe off while resting also helps a ton, when I put my foot back in it feels like I'm standing on a cloud

[Anie9]

If you're sitting or lying down, stand up and put weight on your cramping foot. Actively lift your foot and toes, pulling them up toward your nose. ... Rub your muscle gently as you stretch it.
ice is not working in my case, I put heat on the cramped muscle with a warm towel or heating pad.

[Kuru]

i have also just started (10 days in...) and i also feel the cramps lol! after like 3-4 days when i was doing my full 17km commute to work for the first time i had to stop like 8 times to rest my feet for like a 30-60 seconds each time. i just stop and sit down on my euc and rest a bit and it feels great. the following days i had to do less and less stops. im also a heavy guy and i have now tried 3 pair of shoes. the stiff and kind of narrow mc boots hurt the most, but they aso feels good with the protection. after that i tried my winter hiking boots which felt a tad better, but still makes me cramp up a bit. today i tried my every day/running shoes and it felt great. almost no cramps and now i only have to stop like 2-3 times  i also found it feels better when im hanging off alot in front of the pedals, and a bit more out to the right and left too. the riding in general feels better this way too.

[.....]

2 minutes ago, Kuru said:

i have also just started (10 days in...) and i also feel the cramps lol! after like 3-4 days when i was doing my full 17km commute to work for the first time i had to stop like 8 times to rest my feet for like a 30-60 seconds each time. i just stop and sit down on my euc and rest a bit and it feels great. the following days i had to do less and less stops. im also a heavy guy and i have now tried 3 pair of shoes. the stiff and kind of narrow mc boots hurt the most, but they aso feels good with the protection. after that i tried my winter hiking boots which felt a tad better, but still makes me cramp up a bit. today i tried my every day/running shoes and it felt great. almost no cramps and now i only have to stop like 2-3 times  i also found it feels better when im hanging off alot in front of the pedals, and a bit more out to the right and left too. the riding in general feels better this way too.

flat soled and thin.comfy skate shoes for the win! Foot injury is something that happens, but not THAT often. I guess its the same old thing. How much comfort are you willing to compromise, in order to feel safer?

I ride off the front a lot, as it requires you to put less lean into the wheel, to keep moving forwards...

[360rumors]

My foot hurt too on my first week. It helped me to use shoes with a harder sole. But today my feet no longer ache regardless of which type of shoe I wear. But they do ache when I practice tight turns off road. 

[mrelwood]

On 5/7/2022 at 1:49 AM, Kuru said:

I also found it feels better when im hanging off alot in front of the pedals, and a bit more out to the right and left too.

Yes! Many riders intuitively stand too far back, so they have to have too much weight on the balls of the feet to simply accelerate and keep going. It starts to hurt fast.

 Leveling the rear end of your shoes with the rear and of the pedals is a good starting point that seems to be the optimal standing position for many riders.

Do bear in mind though that while standing more to the front makes it easier to accelerate, it also makes it harder to brake. Test both accelerating and braking with every new foot position. I used to make quick and short accelerations and brakings after every time I got on the wheel to make sure they are equally effortless.

[nico87]

get a good isotonic drink before a ride, helps with muscles hydratation and relieves cramps

Edited May 15, 2022 by nico87

[Paul A]

Maybe try to align the vertical center line of the body, with the vertical center line of the wheel.

The ankles would be above the center of the pedals.

The toes may then be protruding over the front of the pedals.

 

Might lessen the need to be leaning forward/back to maintain balance, and lessen the strain on the feet.

 

[Unipilot69]

That's how I usually line up. I have size 14 feet so they do overhang a bit. Some days my feet hurt bad others not so much. For me it's probably age related and to some extent arthritis spreading.

[LanghamP]

The easy answer is "stand further forward".

The correct answer is "buy power pads".

The cheap in-between answer until those fancy power pads arrive in the mail is "set your wheel hardness level to medium or soft".

You really need power pads, because your feet cramp from constantly having to push down on that itty bitty lever to keep the wheel moving forward. Power pads give you far better leverage than your smelly stumpies. Imagine if you had a stick on the front of your EUC. You could just push that stick forward and rest your feet, yes? Well, power pads are a cooler and more precise solution to the EUC lever problem.

 

[goatman]

i like soft mode with pads, i was going to try medium or hard but i saw a recent U-stride youtube video where he was comparing soft/medium/hard mode under hard accelleration, he swore soft mode sucked but they all wound up being about the same speed, no real difference, i need to back up my pads a wee bit because under hard braking i get a touch of wobble that is not a big a deal. after setting my tire pressure correctly for my weight, using soft mode and pads i no longer get foot pain

 

[Begodecrashtestdummy]

On 5/2/2022 at 5:31 PM, Tritzzy said:

So I am just learning but my learning is being slowed quite a bit due to terrible cramps in the foot that I put all my weight on to get onto the unicycle. 

I am a overweight dude (I am working on it heavily) so I know that doesn't help. But any other tips would be much appreciated. 

Yeah When I started riding a couple weeks now ..I started at 225 pounds I’m down to 215 now and I’ve put on over 220 miles on my euc .I’ve tried different shoes aswell low top vans I didn’t like so i tried high top basketballs shoes ,I put on some dirty bred jordan 13’s and now my feet don’t start hurting till after I’ve done about a 25 mile ride.i plan on getting some dr. Scholl’s gel pads to put in my shoes I bet they will help a lot .

[Paul A]

Have never used pads, don't know.

Instead of pressing the pedals like the accelerator in a car, maybe try just subtly shift/move some of the body mass forward of the vertical center line.

 

The feet can remain inactive/horizontal/uninvolved.

The ankles can be the pivot point.  Leaning the body just slightly, produces much more leverage, little effort required.

 

Body's center of mass, forward or back of the vertical center line, is the determining factor.

 

Gel innersole inserts may help too.