Targeted Leg Exercises Book

We are going to help you master a simple routine that will improve vein health and the amount of relief that you get from wearing compression stockings or garments. More importantly, the exercises will not harm you in any way as the exercises were designed by a fellowship trained orthopedic physical therapist, Dr. Nicole Swiatek.

Our exercise techniques are beautiful because the end result of the exercises is most important. They stimulate blood flow from the superficial veins into the deep veins. They also stimulate blood flow out of ‘no man’s land’, i.e. the deep veins. They also help venous blood out of the superficial veins into the deep veins at the saphenofemoral junction and saphenopopliteal junctions and through the perforator veins. All of this reduces the amount of venous blood pooling, which translates into having a more efficient and healthy venous circulation.

• Benefits
• Directions

• As we age, we also lose muscle bulk and this is called sarcopenia. Since the calf muscle is responsible for pumping blood out of the legs, maintaining a strong muscle pump is also a necessary measure to reduce venous blood pooling. Efforts should also be made by patients to do exercises that maintain good calf muscle strength and pump function at any age.

  While you may never be able to undo any problems with the veins in your legs, doing these exercises along with wearing the compression garments will always reduce aching and pain in the legs, reduce tiredness and leg fatigue, may reduce leg cramping and restlessness (at night) and reduce ankle and leg swelling. And it is the last issue, namely swelling, that makes many people eager to get started on exercise right away.

• The goal is to try to move a total of 30 minutes each day. So, if you have to break up your thirty minutes into three ten-minute sessions, that’s great. If you can do two thirty-minute routines each day, that’s even better! Just be sure you get up and move a few times throughout the day.