Weird leg sensations after walking long distances???

I walk a lot for exercise. I can much easier walk 5 miles than run a half mile, so I walk long distances most every day. A lot of times after I get done, I come inside, get a glass of water, sit down, and I keep feeling these weird sensations in my legs. It doesn't hurt, and it's not even uncomfortable or anything, it's just weird. It feels like tiny muscle spasms all over my legs. Normally when I have muscle spasms, it's the whole muscle. For example, a sometimes the muscle in one finger will spazz out. But in my legs, it'll be like a small part of my quadricep or calf, but not the whole muscle. Can anyone offer a possible explanation? Thanks!

Pink

i get that (mostly in my ass rather than my legs).  i just assume that it's good ;-)

Yeah, I always assumed it was good, too, since it only happened after I exercised, rather than when I was too lazy to get my butt up off the couch, but I was just making sure I didn't have some sort of weird problem. Thanks!!!!!

 

I get the same thing all over my legs after walking.  I've often wondered what actually causes it, and still don't have a clear cut answer.  I googled "tingling in legs after walking" and came up with forums questioning the same thing.  There have been a few good guesses, but can't be sure if any of them are really the true answer.  Here's what others think it is:  blood flow within the muscles, cellulite being broken down, and finally (my guess, but wishful thinking would go with the cellulite one) lactic acid that was built up during exercise.

Here's another thought, although if you get this sensation in your calf muscles, this probably isn't what is happening ...

In the early part of this decade, I walked the Avon Breast Cancer 3-day ... a 60 mile walk. It was a TON of fun. The walk was early June, and we ramped up our training in May, big time. We did several 15-20 mile days. During the month of May, I started noticing the same thing ... I'd go to bed at night and my quads would tingle all over. It didn't hurt, but it was weird. The weekend of the walk, I noticed I really didn't have superficial skin sensation on my quads ... I could touch my skin and feel it with my fingers, but my legs were numb. The area affected was mostly the top and lateral sides of my quads. Nowhere else.

Early the next week, I called a neurologist friend. What I was worried about was ... MS. The tingling in my legs was most pronounced. I was right in the "signalment" range for MS ... female, right age, right ethnicity, etc. If you Google "tingling in legs" that is about all that comes up! By the time I scheduled an appointment with my doc, I was a basket case. She snorted at me to quit diagnosing myself on the Internet, but if I was inclined to research on my own, to look up Meralgia Paresthetica. Google it and you will find lots of links. Many describe it as painful--mine is not. The more I walk, the more I aggravate it. Standing is less comfortable. When your legs are extended, it is worse, so when I am in bed, if I don't bend my legs, they tingle. It is an inflammation of the nerve that runs around the side of your waist and innervates the cutaneous portion of your quadriceps area. I think it originates in the sacral spinal column, or thereabouts. Wearing tight belts, tight pants, girdles, etc. aggravates it. Pregnancy can aggravate it. Men wearing heavy toolbelts can be affected.

The impression I get is nothing can be done. It is aggravating but not a huge deal. This may have nothing to do with what you are describing ... but maybe it does. Just a thought!
nancy

I get this too, and it's totally benign.  It's just a result of the muscles being continually stimulated.  Think of the little pings that car engines make when you first turn them off.  The individual muscle fibers are being taxed, but they quickly adapt and then the little twitches stop.

I think I like that one about the cellulite breaking down best, LOL! I have often consoled myself with "Oh, that's just my fat being burned off at such a fast rate that I can feel it." haha, wishful thinking. Until it gets as bad as what nancyatn was describing, I think I'll stick to my fat burning explanation.Thanks!!!!!