hey everybody it's DoctorJo and Remy in her Gamecock hoodie, and today I'm going
to show you seven stretches and exercises for restless legs syndrome, or
RLS. so let's get started.
So with restless legs syndrome, it's really good to stretch everything out in the lower
legs and also to massage the area before you go to bed at night. so with restless
leg syndrome, I really like kind of massaging out my quads and my calves, but
you can also do your hamstrings as well. and you can start off just with your
hands or you can use a foam roller. I usually like using a roller stick just
because a lot of times people want to do their stretches and exercises while
they're in bed right before they get ready to go to bed, and this is easy just
to have by your bed. so you know any kind of roller stick will do, but just you
know spend about 20 to 30 seconds in each spot. you can kind of rotate around
and move around, and again you don't have to use a rolling stick, you can just
massage with your hands. I just find it a little bit easier to use something else
to kind of roll it out or stretch it out. and so a lot of times the the quads and
the the calf muscles are the ones that really tend to bother people, and you
just have you know have to kind of move those legs around. they're kind of
uncomfortable, so again you know just whatever you feel is comfortable for you.
if you haven't rolled or massage your muscles out in a long time, you might
just want to do 15 to 20 seconds at each spot because it might make you a little
sore if you're pushing too hard. and if you don't have a rolling stick, if you
have a rolling pin you can use a rolling pin, and even if you don't have that
again you can just use your hands to kind of massage out those muscles. so you
know just kind of squeezing them trying to get him to relax. you can go down into
your hamstrings back there and then even your calf. so you're just you're kind of
squeezing it massaging it around a little bit. you can do circles with your
hands as well just to kind of get those muscles to calm down there relax. so then
you really want to stretch out the muscles all around. so we're gonna start
off with our calf muscles. so if you have something like a stretch strap, that's
great. you can use a dog leash, you can use a belt, you can use a jump rope from
the dollar store, so you don't really have to you know go out and buy a whole
lot of stuff if you don't want to. but an easy way to stretch out the calf,
especially like if you're already in bed, it's just get something where you can
make a loop with it. and you want to put it around the ball of your foot. so you
don't want up on your toes because you're not gonna get a really good
stretching. you don't want it down at your arch because you're not gonna get a
really good stretch either. I'm completely relaxing my leg. so I'm
not actually actively pulling my toes up, I'm using that strap to pull my toes
towards me, and you should feel that stretch in that calf muscle right down
there. so since this is gonna be a full stretch, you want to hold it for 30
seconds with restless leg syndrome, I would definitely do both sides even if
you feel like you have one leg that's a little more Restless than the other. most
of the time, it's both sides. so again holding for 30 seconds. I would alternate
back and forth just to give each side a break, but you want to do three on each
side to really get it nice and stretched out. so then the next one is going to be
a hamstring stretch. so you can just keep the strap in that same position and then
just kind of go ahead and lie down in your bed. and then take the strap or the
belt and just kind of pull it up towards you. you want to try and keep the knee
locked out and straight, but again I'm not actively lifting up my leg. I'm using
the strap to pull up my leg. so I'm really kind of relaxed. some people will
like to keep this leg down, they feel like they get a little bit more of a
stretch. I like to keep mine up because I feel like it takes pressure off my back.
so if you happen to have any back issues, I would prop the other side up and then
you just take it up as high as you can. so even if you're just you know feeling
the stretch here, that's fine and if you take it up higher and you feel like your
knee is bending, then come back down because if your knee is bending you're
not really stretching out those hamstrings under there. you could also do
a little combination stretch so if you want to pull your toes towards you while
you stretch, you're gonna get your calf muscles again as well as your hamstrings.
so same thing, you want to hold it for 30 seconds and then you want to do that
three times on each side. so then the next one is going to be to stretch out
your quads. so we're really just kind of working all those big large muscle
groups around the leg to kind of help give them a little more relaxed so
they're not as restless while you sleep. so this time you're going to take the
strap and kind of put it around your ankle, and then you're
gonna roll over onto your tummy, bring the strap up around your shoulder as you
come, that's just gonna make it a little bit easier more comfortable for you. you
can lie all the way down make sure you're in a comfortable position. some
people like to prop up, I'm just going to prop up because I'm sitting so I can see
you, but then you're just going to kind of bring that foot as far towards your
bottom as you can. so you might only be able to come here, and that's okay if
your quads a little tight, but the further you can get to the bottom of the
more of a stretch you're going to feel. and again just holding it for 30 seconds
doing that three times on each side. and so while I'm stretching the quad muscle
here I want to give a shout out to some of my wall of thanks folks, and so Darren
K., Joyce S., Heather P., and Aduato M. thank you so much for being on the wall of
thanks. and if you're interested in getting on there, make sure and click on
the link in the description below to find out how. so now you're going to do
some exercises. you really want to loosen up those muscles, kind of fatigue out
those muscles so then they're not so restless while you're sleeping. so go
ahead and lie all the way down get really nice and comfortable because you
want to be able to relax and now we're just gonna do an ankle pump. and even
though ankle pumps are pretty easy to do, get get as low down all the way down as
you can so you can really stretch out your body while you're exercising those
calf muscles. so you're just going to point your toes as far down as you can,
and then you're gonna pull them up as far up as you can. so you're just kind of
pumping that ankle. that's why it is called ankle pump, but you're really kind of
getting that movement, getting everything kind of working and relaxed to help kind
of calm the whole body down before you go to sleep. so with these, you can do
about ten to fifteen maybe a couple sets just see how you feel and see if those
muscles are starting to relax as you do them right before you go to bed. so then
the next one is going to be some bridges and again, so the bridges are really just
to kind of work those muscles a little bit to get them tired before you go to
bed. bridges are great because they work
the glutes, they work your hamstrings, you know they they help kind of loosen up
your low back as well. so it works a little bit of everything.
so with the bridges, this is just to work the muscles to get them a little
tired before you go to bed. you don't have to concentrate so much on the exact
technique, but really go slow and controlled so you're working those
muscles. so as you come up, you're come coming up one segment at a time, getting
to the top just a little pause and then really rolling that back back down. so
you're really working all those muscles. if you're just going fast, you're using
momentum and you're not using those muscles to help them get tired out and
relaxed at the right before you go to bed. so just kind of rolling up and then
again rolling back down. you can still do these in your bed you know it might be a
little bit squishy, but you should be able to do these ok and again just 10 to
15 maybe a couple sets before you go to bed. and then the last one that I really
like to do is really just a child's pose. and the child's pose not only helps kind
of stretch everything out before you go to bed, but a lot of times it really just
kind of calms your body back down. so that's why I really like that one. so you
can again still do this in your bed, just kind of roll over depending on if you
have any knee issues or not sometimes I'll start this way but if you do have
you know some tightness and stiffness in your knees, you can start and come back
this way for the stretch. but I like really being able to kind of just roll
out into the stretch. and so really this is gonna be maybe a twenty to thirty
second thing. if you want to spread out your feet a little bit so you can get
your bottom closer to the bed to the floor, that's fine. and then just really
kind of stretch everything. you know this is stretching my shoulders, my back, my
hips, my knees, and even my feet. so this is really getting a little bit of
everything. so that twenty to thirty second stretch, and you can do that two
or three times before you go to bed. so those were your stretches and exercise,
oh yeah. so those were your seven stretches and
exercises for restless legs syndrome. if you'd like to help support my channel,
make sure and click on the link up there, and don't forget to subscribe,
where Remy? down there. and remember be safe, have fun, and I
hope you feel better soon.