Strange 'popping' feeling in legs after exercise

yup same here!

Same here! I was telling my husband about it and he laughed

Me too!!!

benign fasciculations

Benign fasciculations or muscle twitches after exercise is surprisingly common. After the muscles have undergone an intense workout, biochemical changes take place as the muscle responds to the stress of exercised Lactic acid builds up in the fatigued muscle and formation of free radicals occur which believe can alter the excitability of muscle tissue. Endurance athletes and runners are particularly prone to the type of free radical formation that can lead to muscle twitches after exercise. Eating more antioxidant rich foods may help to reduce exercise related muscle twitches, although there are no studies to document this.

Or from Medhelp.org

Actually, it is your nerves still firing and making your muscles twitch after strenous exercise, especially after intense aerobic exercise. These muscle twitches are known as fasiculations, which are a small, local, involuntary muscle contractions visible under the skin arising from the spontaneous discharge of skeletal muscle fibers. Fasiculations can be caused by certain motor diseases but are more commonly caused by electrolyte imbalances, dehydration, stress and fatigue. Fasiculations are a normal body response to abrupt changes in activity levels such as running for 30 mins. and then suddenly ending the activity. Their intensity is heightened when it has been awhile between exercising routines.

I get it when I do a lot of cardio.

I get this too after a really big cardio workout!

I LOVE this feeling. At first it was disconcerting, but I never really thought it could be bad. Now it feels great, like I really had a good work out. Typically it happens when I've walked on a hard surface for a while, like mall walking or when I walk on the street. I don't get the sensation when I do a low impact activity like the elliptical, which is a let down for me. I like to imagine it's fat cells bursting and expelling themselves from my thighs. It's a nice thought anyway.

This is what I imagine it to be too!

I get little "clicks" right in the center of my thighs. I've always thought it felt like the valves in my veins moving blood around.

I have this same sensation! Especially in my hamstrings when stretching!

I'm glad someone has explained this, I've always felt this after exercising and have always wanted to know what it was

I get it all the time too! Glad I'm not the only one...lol.

I get it too and think it is actually funny. I call them my little fat blasters working hard at getting rid of the fat in my thighs. :-)

I get the same thing. It's your muscles adjusting to the loss of lactic acid. When you work out you tend to break up the lactic acid that has been built up in your muscles. Once that goes, everything kind of moves around and knots up.

That's why it's a good idea to do some massage on the muscles just used so you can limit the amount of soreness and break up those knots and pockets of lactic acid still remaining. I let the kids take a rolling pin and roll out my calves and quads for me after a workout. The call it making "momma cookies". lol

WUT? Where are you getting you information about lactic acid buildup? Lactic acid isn't the cause of sore muscles. Nor does it remain in muscles, but gets converted back to pyruvate when oxygen is present.
Should probably research you information because wherever you got it from, it's incorrect.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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So glad it's not just me!

My muscles twitch all the time when I'm in training. In my calves mostly, and often in my feet after long runs. I've done lots of googling and it's pretty normal.