Called “the second heart”, the calf muscles work as a pump to squeeze veins in the legs to return deoxygenated blood back up to the heart. Your fighting gravity here, so you’ll need a hard-working pump.
When you get your calves moving throughout the day, you’ll improve the circulation in the legs
Without regular movement, blood can begin to pool in the lower body, increasing the risk of leg tiredness, pain, swelling, and varicose veins. This isn’t just an issue of sitting. Standing for hours on end without movement doesn’t create this pumping effect.
Sorry standing desk users, you need movement too.
A Simple Way to Get Your Calves Pumping
The most minimal effort exercise to get blood flowing is walking.
It’s that simple.
You’ll improve circulation in your legs and feel better to. Take a walking break every one to two hours. Just keep moving.
What about the times where there is no opportunity to go for a walk? Say you’re stuck inside on a rainy day, or you feel chained to your desk….
Do this exercise…
Enter calf pumping– A standing exercise you can do that will increase blood flow to the surrounding leg muscles.
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