Question:
I am 19 and have always been very athletic and squats seem like a good base exercise. What I'm worried about though is that they could cause vericose(sp?) veins in my legs. I see a couple of girls in the gym who squat and have bad vericose veins. Do any girls out there know if there is any link there? Does anybody have any real experience with this?

Answer: -The tendency to suffer from varicose veins is largely inherited and I would be surprised if at age 19 any of your friends have them. If you mean the slightly bluish spider veins, those are more a result of pale skin showing small areas of broken capillaries. These may be unslightly but are not harmful and can be treated with lasers and/or saline injections. Again these are inherited. Extreme overweight may exaggerate these conditions in someone who has them. Exercise if anything may help prevent these conditions by improving the circulatory system. There is no scientific basis to the old wives tale that being on your feet causes vein problems in the legs--if anything just the opposite--sitting on your ass causes problems. -Do you have any reason to believe that you are susptible to vericose veins? Does you mom have them, for instance? A friend of mine got vericose veins shortly after she began exercising, but she was doomed to get them anyway because of her family history. It's not uncommon for some people to have slightly more visible vascularity as a result of lifting and building muscle. That's just the muscle pressing the veins a little closer to your skin. This usually happens if you're lean and can look pretty wicked cool, if you ask me. -Are you talking about me? No kidding...I have vericose veins but you wouldn't really know it unless I pointed them out to you. I have had them ever since I can remember, it's a genetic thing. The way you "get" them is by having a ton of excessive weight, standing on your feet for long periods of time, and of course heredity. So, with the squating, do you plan to squat all day every day? You can't get then from doing them, anyway, I don't believe that you would ever have that much weight in your squat just standing there. A lot of the times you will see the vericose veins puffed or enlarged in women's legs, after a pregnancy, and with age. I wouldn't worry about it. Squat until your hearts content. Take a look at your mom and grandmom's legs to see what is in your future.