When veins dilate and start appearing under your skin and your legs start to hurt, your lifestyle changes for the worse.Exercises for varicose veins of the legs will improve vascular tone, thereby alleviating the condition.
What are varicose veins
Varicose veins are a pathological (abnormal) phenomenon of dilation of the veins, due to which cobwebs and blue-red mesh or even irregular knots appear on the surface of the skin.
If one of your relatives has varicose veins, you may have heard them use the expression “pulling their veins.”As you know, the blood must travel upwards through the veins of the legs, overcoming the force of gravity.The heart pushes it there with each contraction, and special valves inside the vessel prevent its outflow.They close after each heartbeat and prevent blood from flowing downward under the influence of your own weight.
In varicose veins, the walls of the veins expand and become thinner, the valves can no longer close, and the proper movement of blood through the affected vessel is disrupted.The blood stagnates, the vessels rise to the surface of the skin and become very noticeable.And the stronger the varicose veins, the heavier and more extensive this picture will be.
At a certain point you reach the "point of no return" where surgery is no longer possible.But first you can help yourself with gymnastics and medications.
The most important thing is to protect yourself from the further development of varicose veins.First you need to understand where it comes from.
Causes of the disease
All the reasons for varicose veins can be reduced to two: problems with the outflow of blood from the vessels of the legs and weak connective tissue in the walls of blood vessels.
The first group of reasons can be eliminated quite simply, but the second is due to genetic characteristics and can only be tolerated.
The first group includes the following reasons:
- Cross-legged pose while sitting.
- Prolonged unfavorable body position, such as squatting when working in the garden.
- Work for long periods of time while standing.
- Trauma, systemic vascular diseases.
- Obesity.
As you can see, most of these reasons can be eliminated.In other words, the exercise will be ineffective unless you break the habit of sitting cross-legged or reduce the weight.If varicose veins are caused by genetic weakness of blood vessels, do not despair.Your feet will just need more attention.
So, let's find out what kind of load can be given to the muscles with this disease, whether it is possible to do squats with varicose veins and what other exercises exist.
Fight varicose veins with exercises
Physical activity is designed to improve blood flow in diseased veins.It is useless to do this if the stage of varicose veins already requires surgery.But if the disease has just begun, the exercises will be very useful.
What not to do
You should not lift weights.Forget about strength exercises for now, they will aggravate your condition.Excessive tension can cause weak blood vessels to rupture.
Here are some questions from people who suffer from varicose veins and their answers:
- Is it possible to do squats with varicose veins?You can squat with your weight.But if the exercises are difficult for you, it is better not to do them, even without a barbell.You can't do squats with a barbell if you have varicose veins.
- Can you bench press?You can, but with caution, it is better to wear special compression stockings.You need to be careful with exercises that directly work the leg muscles, such as deadlifts, squats, leg extensions and leg curls.This is where you need to limit yourself.You cannot lift weights while standing.A leg press with a light weight will be helpful because you perform it in the inverted position.
- Are your veins swollen after training, are they varicose veins?After visiting the gym, the veins become more pronounced and visible on the surface.But it is necessary to distinguish varicose veins from labor veins.In the latter case the veins are pushed to the surface by the muscles, they are smooth, without knots or links.They are usually large and single, bluish.Such veins appear on the athlete's body in the area of the flexors of the legs, arms, chest and neck.This is fine.If the vein is red or purple, thin, knotty and bordered by a mesh, it is varicose veins.
- Aerobics: light exercise.Can it be done for varicose veins?Unfortunately, during aerobics a person makes sudden movements and jumps.And it's better not to.Although in the initial stages of varicose veins this is not important.The main thing is to remove the heavy load.But in later stages, especially in thrombophlebitis, sudden movement is dangerous due to detachment of a blood clot and catastrophic consequences.
You should be wary of everything that requires serious physical effort on your part: strength exercises, fast running, interval training.
What can and should be done
Exercises for legs with varicose veins differ in the dosed load.This is actually gymnastics for the joints.On the one hand it forces the muscles to contract and on the other it does not cause much tension.All exercises for varicose veins are aimed at increasing blood circulation in the legs.
The simplest leg exercise for varicose veins is to work with your feet.
This exercise is done like this:
- Sit or lie down so that your feet are higher than your knees.
- You can place a soft but elastic pillow under your knees.
- Imagine that your toes are a hand.Draw an even circle with it.The drawing is performed by moving the leg at the ankle joint.
- Pull the tip towards you, keep pulling it when you reach the limit.You will feel a slight pleasant warmth in the calf muscle and its stretching.
- Next, stretch your toes, lower your heels using your calf muscle.
- Turn your feet outward, then toward each other.
- Try this exercise several times.
In other words, we actively rotate our feet, contract and relax our calves.We do it with our legs raised.This technique allows you to stretch the muscles located below the knee while sitting on the sofa or lying in bed.
A series of exercises for the whole body
The next activity combines warming up the muscles and joints of the whole body with stretching.This is a simple and safe complex that improves blood circulation throughout the body.
Head and neck
Make a circle with your head 10 times clockwise and as many times in the opposite direction.
With each round, try to stretch.It is not necessary to do it quickly, lengthen the pleasure.Feel the work of your neck muscles, enjoy.
Then stretch your chin towards your chest 3-4 times and the back of your head towards your back the same number of times.
Let's move on to the upper shoulder girdle.
Arms, shoulders
Move your shoulders in a circle back and forth.Let's draw a circle efficiently and slowly, stretching the muscles!
Next, we begin to describe the circles on the same plane with outstretched arms.There is no need to accelerate too much;a speed of 1.5–2 revolutions per second is sufficient.We inhale and exhale evenly, without holding our breath.
Then we press the elbows to the body and draw a circle with brushes.That is, the arm rotates at the elbow.
And the last step is to clench your hands into fists and rotate them at the wrist.Next, we warm up the lower back.
Lumbar
Take the hands on hips pose.Start by using your lower back to twist right and left a maximum of 10 times.You can turn around in a row, or you can do it immediately 10 times in one direction, then 10 in the other.
Next, bend back and forth.Then rotate your body clockwise and counterclockwise, keeping your legs in one place.
Place your hands on your hips and make a few circles with just your hips.
Don't forget that you need to work slowly at a constant speed.
Legs
Here you can squat 10 times slowly and without additional weight.This is one of two possible options for stressing your legs, because you cannot perform squats with a barbell or do lunges.
The second option is the leg press in a machine with light weights.It will be more useful to you, as the work goes upside down, which is very good in case of varicose veins.
The rest of the leg exercises are various swings that do not load the calf area.In the press
To train your abs you will need exercises to be performed lying on the ground on a fitball.It is not recommended to perform leg raises suspended on a horizontal bar, as at this time blood can stagnate in diseased veins.
Lying on your back, perform leg raises (two or separately) on the press, on the exercise bike.
Crunches in various techniques are also safe in a lying position.
I swim
Swimming is an excellent form of physical activity for varicose veins.It is useful for leg muscles, nervous system, heart and immune system.Really a great activity!
Key recommendations
If we summarize all of the above in the form of short recommendations, they will look like this:
- Do exercises for varicose veins, go for long walks in comfortable shoes .
- Don't stay in the same position for long, eliminate the habit of sitting cross-legged.
- Check your weight.
- Lead an active lifestyle to improve blood circulation
- If you are predisposed to varicose veins, all heavy physical activities should be performed wearing special tight anti-varicose socks!
- After physical activity, allow blood to flow freely from your legs.This is especially true for girls.Lie on a bed or sofa with your heels against the wall.You need to lie down so that your feet are higher than your head.If you decide to nap for an hour or two, place pillows under your heels and knees.Make sure your legs are positioned so that they are higher than your body.This will help blood flow from your lower extremities.
- Use cardio exercises in your workouts.This will improve your well-being and strengthen your cardiovascular system.