How to Improve Circulation In the Legs In Three Simple Steps

Symptoms of Poor Circulation

Poor circulation tends to happen to many adults as they age. There are a number of factors involved in your circulatory health. If you are aware of some of the common signs and symptoms of poor circulation, you can address it sooner and learn to prevent it and even reverse it over time.

The common symptoms that you need to watch out for are cold hands and feet, panic attacks, chest pain, sinusitis, coughing, migraine headaches, and cramps. You may also experience diminished energy, feelings of tiredness, numbness and tingling. Poor circulation in the legs can also be indicated by visible skin discoloration, swelling or ulcers. Recurrent calf pain can indicate poor circulation.

Hypertension and high blood pressure are common measures that the doctor uses to determine your circulatory health. You may want to ask the doctor to measure your blood pressure if you are noticing that you have sores, cuts and scratches that heal unusually slowly as this is also an indicator of poor circulation.

 

 

Causes of Poor Circulation in the Legs

There are a number of common causes for poor circulation. It is often due to the constriction of arteries and arterioles. This can happen due to low blood sugar, medical drugs, smoking and neurological causes. However, the most common cause for poor circulation is low carbon dioxide (CO2) in the arterial blood. CO2 is the most potent known vasodilator which triggers vasodilation. When people have low levels of CO2, their arteries remain in vasoconstriction. They need the CO2 in the blood for vasodilation.

When people are experiencing vasoconstriction as a result of reduced blood flow, they will have cold hands and feet, angina pain, headaches, constipation or even organ failure. People who have poor circulation in their legs and feet tend to be experiencing vasoconstriction. They almost always have reduced body oxygen levels. Therefore, it is important to improve the body oxygenation.

 

 

Step 1: Reduce Breathing

The fastest method of improving circulation to the legs can be done with a simple breathing exercise. It will take 1-2 minutes. You will focus on slowing down your automatic (basal) breathing back to the medical norm through the Buteyko breathing method.

 

For reduced breathing, close your mouth. Next, exhale through your nose. Pinch your nose and hold your breath and wait until you get a desire to breathe more. When you release your nose to breathe, it is important that you take your breathe through your nose using your abdominal diaphragmatic muscles. Make this inhale smaller than your normal inhalations. Reduced breathing results in higher CO2 levels in airways and increased oxygen levels in your body cells.

Once you have a normal rate of breathing, exercise can help to improve blood flow. It is important that to safely exercise, you should be breathing only through your nose during the exercise. This will ensure the most health benefits.

 

 

Step 2: Hydrate

Dehydration is one of the root causes of many diseases, including poor circulation. Plasma makes up over half of the total blood volume. Plasma is about 93 percent water, therefore, your body requires water for almost every function. If you are deficient in water, your body will go into a self-preservation mode and constrict the arterioles in an attempt to hold on and preserve the amount of water that is in the body.

It is highly recommended to drink at least eight glasses of water per day. This amount will vary depending on your level of physical activity, the weather and the foods that you consume. It is important to remember that alcohol and caffeine will have a dehydrating effect on the body.

 

 

Step 3: Move Your Body

Exercise does more for your body than simply burning fat and building muscles. Aerobic exercises will increase your heart rate and give your circulatory system a boost. They will also stimulate your lymphatic system and help your body to detoxify. You can improve your body’s ability to move blood through your legs with at least thirty minutes of vigorous exercise per day.

Exercise will strengthen the entire cardiovascular system. It enables the heart to pump blood through the circulatory system more effectively. Exercises that move the major muscle groups will help to improve your circulation to your legs.

For people who are just starting out, make sure that you gradually increase your workout intensity. You may want to check with a doctor before beginning a new exercise routine to determine if it is suitable. Build up the intensity as your workouts become easier. As your level of fitness improves, you may want to try out different activities, such as playing a sport, running or swimming.

Walking is recommended for everyone who wants to improve their blood circulation. A half-hour walk per day will get your leg muscles moving. Walking will not only improve your circulation, but also your mood and focus.

Whilst most exercise promotes circulation, rebounding on a mini-trampoline in particular has a very powerful effect on blood circulation. Due to the action of moving up against gravity and then landing and pushing up again is very stimulating on the body. All the muscles in the body have to contract and relax over and over when you jump on a rebounder. This constant contraction and relaxation creates a type of wave effect for the blood in the body, which makes it move faster and more efficiently. Rebounding, or jumping on a mini-trampoline, will stimulate areas that may have had a lack of circulation. It will bring newly oxygenated blood to the extremities. The entire body will begin to function at a more proficient and productive level.

 

 

Habits that Decrease Circulation

There are some things that will decrease your circulation. If you are a smoker, you should consider quitting smoking. Poor posture will also reduce the CO2 in your lungs and therefore trigger vasoconstriction and poor circulation. Processed foods and alcohol often require more CO2 to digest. It is wise to limit your consumption of processed foods and alcohol in order to prevent hypertension and poor blood circulation in your body.

 

 

 

 

 

4 thoughts on “How to Improve Circulation In the Legs In Three Simple Steps”

  1. I find this post very interesting. I have poor circulation in my legs and I don’t know why. I used to swim and get cramps in my feet and legs and even sometimes when I sleep. I don’t exercise anymore and maybe I should start. I have been thinking of taking up walking. Maybe I could build up to 30 minutes a day.

    1. You can do it! If you get a dog, it gets easier. They have to be walked and it becomes somewhat social. All the neighbors say hi to people with dogs.

  2. Great !
    Very informative and beautifully laid out.
    I especially like the link to you YouTube.
    Don’t know how long you have been doing this but your post seems quite professional to me.

  3. Nice article!
    Fortunately, I’m young enough to not having to deal with this stuff yet, but I try to do the second and the third for overall health all the same.

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