is there anything i can do to prevent this condition?

at the moment i warm up and stretch before going on a ride, then when i get back i go for a jog and gradually dial it down to a slow walk, then shake my legs and get something to eat and drink.

i feel fine for the rest of the day but the following day i wake up and have to stretch my legs immediately, then it feels like i have to stretch them frequently throughout the day. other than this i feel fine.. even quite energetic.

are restless legs a sign that you're pushing your body past its normal limits? or that you're doing something wrong on/after a ride?

(don't know if this is related but i felt the onset of a cramp 0.6 miles into a ride yesterday (id done a tough ride the day before). i took it easy for the rest of the ride and didnt get cramp, but i've had this happen quite a lot recently)


should i be doing stretches on non cycling days, or do longer warm up and stretching sessions before/after rides?

thanks for reading.

Restless Leg Syndrome is often the result of an iron deficiency. (Do you kick when you go to bed, and even while sleeping, or is this just an early-morning problem?) You should have the ferritin level in your blood checked. If this is the reason for your RLS, then you may be able to treat this with a daily iron supplement, but your doctor will probably want to check for a more serious cause.

One potential reason for an iron deficiency is celiac disease (coeliac if you're British). If you have celiac, then your digestive system cannot tolerate foods with gluten (the protein found in wheat, barley, and rye), and as a result, iron and certain other vitamins and minerals pass through your gut without being absorbed. You would need to maintain a gluten-free diet to manage this disease (and also take the iron supplement).

There are other possible reasons for what you are experiencing, but this has been my personal experience.

Stretching after the ride is more important than before... Try eating a banana as soon as possible afterwards aswell (while your stretching)

I read on Dr Weil's website that a calcium/magnesium pill should help. I tried it a few times and it really seemed to help.
Interesting about the iron deficiency comment above ^, because my last checkup showed that my iron levels were quite low.

cheers for the replies. it could well be an iron deficiancy. im a pescatarian so i might be missing some minerals that are mainly found in red meat, like iron

I randomly have restless legs when I try to sleep - can't relate it to anything specific and I eat more than a fair share of red meat. It doesn't happen often enough to be a real problem, but it takes me a couple hours to fall asleep when it does happen.

I get RLS whenever I've been unhealthy and sedentary for a while. Not being able to sleep for sometimes whole nights is a great motivator to stay active.

Not sure if this will relate to you, but I was having a heck of a problem at night with restless legs. I started thinking what in my diet could be causing it, for me it was artificial sweeteners. I was drinking water with those flavor packets in them like crazy. Eliminated the artificial sweeteners and have not had a problem since. Just something to think about, I know it might be limited to what was causing my problem.


***Edited for improper grammar***