Thursday, November 11, 2010

Exercises For Restless Legs

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) makes you feel like getting up and moving around while you are sitting or lying down. Walking around temporarily can sometimes relieve the symptoms. This condition can affect both genders and can start at any time and become progressively worse. People affected by this condition have disrupted sleep patterns and often feel extremely drowsy. Medications, along with exercise and lifestyle changes, can help you manage RLS.


Yoga








Take a yoga class. This type of exercise offers physical and mental ways to help settle your body down. The strenuous asana, or poses, will stretch your muscles, calming and relaxing your body and restless legs. Practice the breathing exercises and stretches at home to help relieve RLS symptoms. For example, place your feet flat on the ground and bend forward with your palms on the ground. This pose will stretch your legs and hamstrings. Reverse the position by bending backwards, facing toward the ceiling. Place your feet flat on the ground and your palms on the ground behind you. This position will also stretch the back and legs.


Running and Deep Stretching








Run in the morning or evening to help alleviate those RLS urges. Try a jog lasting as little as 15 minutes before your shower in the morning or after you return home from work in the evening. Experiment with different paces such as sprinting hard then slowing down. Stretch your legs before and after each run. Stand straight and bend over to touch your toes with your fingers. Place one leg in front of the other, slightly bent with the other straight behind you. Push on your knee with your hands to stretch the muscles. Take a warm bath after running to relax the muscles you just worked.


Walking Stairs/Deep Tissue Massage


Walk the stairs while at work, or complete a few repetitions at home. Walk several flights of stairs a day to calm those restless legs. Complete the day with a deep-tissue massage, which you can perform yourself by purchasing tubes specifically designed to massage leg muscles. Place the tubes beneath your legs, and roll the tubes with the weight of your legs by moving back and forth.

Tags: your legs, with your, feet flat, feet flat ground, flat ground, palms ground, relieve symptoms