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6 Possible Reasons Why Your Muscles Are Twitching After a Workout

Those weird muscle twitches are common, especially if you’ve just pushed yourself during a training session. Here’s what’s going on.

By Jessica Migala, Sarah KleinUpdated July 9, 2025

At the end of your workout, you’re sweaty, you’re thirsty… and your muscles are twitching? If your muscles feel like they’re moving on their own after getting active, there may be a good reason why. In fact, it may offer insight into your lifestyle or exercise habits and motivate you to make a healthy routine shift.

Read on to learn about what muscle twitches are, whether or not they’re normal, and if there’s anything you can do to calm them down in the moment—plus prevent them in the future.

What Are Muscle Twitches?

“A muscle twitch is a short contraction of the muscle,” explains Jenna Bendio, a physical therapist and certified athletic trainer with Peak Physical Therapy. 

Technically, muscle twitches are known as fasciculations, which are rapid, involuntary muscle twitches that aren’t strong enough to move your arms or legs, yet are still easy to feel. (One commonly felt muscle twitch is in the eyelid, which you might notice if you were up late last night and are grappling with fatigue now.)

Your peripheral nervous system (the part of your nervous system that's outside of the brain and spinal cord) powers the muscles. As these nerves activate, you might feel a twitch, which you may or may not be able to see happen under your skin, explains board-certified sports physical therapist Leada Malek

What’s the Difference Between Muscle Twitches, Spasms, Cramps, and Shaking?

While muscle twitches, muscle spasms, muscle cramps, and muscle shaking might understandably sound like the same thing, they’re all a bit different:

  • Twitches: Your muscles involuntarily twitch. You may experience muscle twitching after exercise in one of the muscle groups you’ve just worked hard in said exercise or sport, such as your quads or calves.

  • Spasms: Muscle spasms are full muscle contractions that can be painful.

  • Cramps: Muscle spasms are often referred to as muscle cramps, but cramps last longer. Like muscle twitches, cramps and spasms are unexpected and involuntary.

  • Shaking: Also involuntary, muscle shaking is more of an uncontrollable tremble than a spasm or twitch and may last longer. It’s often due to fatigue (especially during or after a workout), but can also be caused by electrolyte or muscular imbalances.

A man watching a video on his phone with wire headphones while simultaneously doing a standing quad stretch. He is standing on a beautiful sandy trail near the ocean.

Why Do Muscles Twitch After a Workout?

There are a number of possible reasons for your post-exercise muscle twitches, including some specific lifestyle or fitness habits. If you’re wondering why your muscles twitch after working out, here’s what might be triggering those micro movements:

1. New or Difficult Exercise

Are you trying a new exercise that’s particularly difficult? “If it’s something new and hard for the body to figure out, your brain may essentially tell your muscles to jump in,” Malek says. Plus, that ramped-up nervous system could lead to a twitch. “Sometimes you’ll see twitching last only during the exercise. One example is while holding a leg press, you look down at your quad and see all this stuff happening in the muscle,” she explains. This twitch may last a moment and go away when you stop moving.

2. Too Much Exercise

Although muscle twitching can be random, another possible cause is overtraining or working your muscles extra hard. “Doing too much exercise can often lead to a twitching sensation,” Bendio says. In fact, muscle twitching can be one indication of where your threshold is. If your muscles are twitching after a workout, you may want to stay at that level of intensity until you build more strength or stamina before moving on in duration, speed, or weight. 

3. Fatigue

How have you been sleeping lately? Sleep is important for neuromuscular function. If you’ve been skimping on shut-eye, muscle twitching after a workout may be your signal to start prioritizing better sleep hygiene.  

4. Dehydration

Your hydration status affects your electrolyte balance (such as how much sodium you have in your body), and electrolytes are key for proper muscle contraction. So, when you’re dehydrated, your muscles might twitch as a result. As funny as it sounds, Bendio suggests checking the toilet bowl to know if you’re properly hydrated: If your urine is a pale yellow color, you’re hydrated. Bright yellow or darker? Drink up.

5. Caffeine

Caffeine is a stimulant that affects your nervous system, and drinking too much of it may also contribute to muscle twitches, Bendio says. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration recommends limiting yourself to 400 milligrams of caffeine per day maximum, or about four or five cups of coffee. Other tell-tale symptoms of consuming too much caffeine include jitters, anxiousness, a fast heart rate, and insomnia. Keep in mind that a lack of sleep can cause fatigue and may lead you to reach for more caffeinated beverages, creating a cycle that’s tough to escape.

6. Stress and Anxiety

When you’re stressed or anxious, there’s a tendency to tense up (or contract) your muscles. This makes them more prone to twitching or spasming, Bendio says. Stress triggers other changes in your body and lifestyle that could contribute to twitching as well, like altering your breathing (making it faster and shallower) and affecting your sleep habits. 

Is It Normal for Muscles to Twitch After Exercise?

The good news is that most times, muscle twitches after a workout are benign. In fact, “many people will experience them,” Malek says. Turns out, muscle twitches are incredibly common: About 70 percent of healthy people experience them at some point, according to the Cleveland Clinic

If you’re experiencing muscle twitching after a workout, there are a couple approaches you can take. The first is pretty simple: Notice the muscle twitch happening, wait for it to go away, and then move on with your day, as long as your muscles aren’t twitching all the time.

Another option, especially if muscle twitching is a new experience or happening fairly regularly (but not bothersome or affecting your movements—more on that below), then you can use it to try and learn something about your body and mind.

“I wouldn’t worry too much, but take it as a little sign that your nervous system is really running right now,” Malek says. There could be a direct and identifiable cause—for instance, you’re in a time of deep stress right—or it could be for no reason at all.

How to Stop Muscle Twitching After a Workout

Muscle twitching after exercise will likely go away on its own. “If you worked out and your muscles twitched, I wouldn’t worry too much about it,” Malek says. “Go about your routine, and it will go away eventually.”

That said, there are some steps you can take to help stop muscle twitching after a workout:

  • Cool down. At any time—but especially if you have muscle twitching—you should do a proper cooldown, Bendio recommends. That means you should slowly scale down the intensity of your exercise. If you’ve been running a speed workout, slow to a jog, then a walk, then follow that up with some stretching. (There are plenty of great stretching classes you can do in just 5 minutes on the Peloton App.)

  • Stretch it out. “Stretch the muscle groups involved in the exercise,” Bendio says. The end of your workout is an ideal time to perform static stretches because your muscles are loose and warm, and stretching will help encourage increased muscle length, she says. But remember, Bendio says, don’t stretch to pain. “Stretching may not be comfortable, but if it’s painful, stop.” 

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If your muscle is in a full spasm (rather than just a twitch), you should treat it a little differently. First, stop and take a few deep breaths to calm your nervous system. Then stand up, walk a little to move the muscle gently, and finally, stop to stretch, Bendio says. (“If you try to go straight into stretching the muscle during a spasm, it will just tighten up again,” she explains.) 

Can You Prevent Muscle Twitching After Exercise?

If you want to stop post-workout muscle twitches before they start, reflect on the list of possible causes above and think about the small tweaks you could make in your life, Malek says. “As a sports physical therapist, I look at the bigger picture,” she says.

For example, if your schedule is overloaded, can you make more room for downtime? Do you need to focus on de-stressing activities? Do you need to really home in on your sleep? Could you use a rest and recovery day or an exercise break? It’s never a bad idea to evaluate if you experience other signs of overtraining, such as sleep or mood disturbances. 

It’s also important to make sure you’re warming up with some dynamic stretching and/or a light version of the activity ahead (like slow jogging if you’re running) in order to prep the muscle for the work ahead, Bendio adds.

When to Speak with a Healthcare Provider About Muscle Twitching

Reach out to your doctor or physical therapist anytime if muscle twitching after exercise is troubling you or causing you any concern.

If you have persistent muscle twitching along with changes in muscle function, such as weakness, it’s time to make an appointment with your doctor, Malek says. Nervous system conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or neuropathy can also cause muscle twitching, according to the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

The Takeaway 

Muscle twitching is a fasciculation of the muscle, or a minor, involuntary movement in the muscle. Most often, it’s benign, and you don't need to do anything to treat a twitch—notice the funky sensation, then let it go away. However, in certain instances, muscle twitching after a workout may be telling you something about your exercise routine (such as you’re overtraining without adequate recovery) or lifestyle habits (like you’re not getting enough sleep or you're under a lot of stress). Consider the muscle twitching treatment and prevention tips above, and as always, talk to a healthcare provider if your muscle twitching is bothering you or isn’t stopping.

This content is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute individualized advice. It is not intended to replace professional medical evaluation, diagnosis, or treatment. Seek the advice of your physician for questions you may have regarding your health or a medical condition. If you are having a medical emergency, call your physician or 911 immediately.

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