Find out the harm and benefits when you start to develop strong venousness on drying and whether it is worth worrying about it. Admittedly, venousness in bodybuilding is a controversial topic. This concept itself assumes the presence of protruding veins on the surface of the skin. Of course, vascularity is observed not only in athletes, but also in people with a lean physique. The answer to the question of why athletes have bulging veins is quite simple - a small amount of subcutaneous fat.
Most builders go to great lengths to increase their vascularity while preparing for a tournament. For them, this is not a cosmetic defect, but a mandatory attribute indicating the presence of an excellent shape. The judges also pay attention to the vascularity, and it is one of the components of the high scores.
When an athlete's veins protrude, his body seems more muscular, and the presence of excess subcutaneous fat dramatically reduces the venous value. However, this is not at all an indicator that an athlete with high venousness has a minimum of body fat in the body. This is largely determined at the genetic level by the depth of the vessels. Sometimes in athletes with perfectly pumped muscles, the venousness is not so pronounced. However, even in this situation, you can easily determine that they are in excellent shape, because muscle fibers can appear through the skin.
Venousness in bodybuilding
Today we will talk about why athletes have bulging veins, because this can be a symptom of a disease. However, first we will tell you how you can increase your venousness before a competition. We have already noted that builders are trying to increase vascularity before starting in a tournament, but for many this is also evidence of the use of steroids by athletes. With the help of these hormonal preparations, you can not only pump muscles, but also get rid of subcutaneous fat deposits in a short time.
It is difficult to argue with this fact, it is enough to compare two athletes and the one taking anabolic steroids will have a higher venousity, although the genetic factor influences in this case as well. Some bodybuilders who train naturally all the time can also have pronounced venousness, as their blood vessels are located close to the surface of the skin. In addition, there are drugs that do not belong to the AAS group, but are capable of enhancing vascularity, say, growth hormone or clenbuterol.
This is primarily due to their ability to effectively burn subcutaneous fat. It is reliably known that sometimes athletes even specifically took drugs to increase blood pressure and were confident that this would help them achieve the effect of protruding veins. However, such attempts were doomed to failure in advance, and the use of these medications can cause a heart attack.
In order to achieve maximum vascularity, some bodybuilders consume a small amount of wine before going on stage. In theory, alcohol dilates blood vessels, but affects only small ones. That is why, after drinking alcoholic beverages, warmth spreads through the body. Similarly, the situation is with niacin, which has a vasodilating effect, but is not able to increase vascularity.
The most unpromising and even stupid way to increase venousness is to use erythropoietin or analogues of this drug. These funds are designed to increase the level of red cells in the blood. The inappropriateness of this step can be easily seen if you look at cyclists who quite often use erythropoietin to increase endurance. Do you remember at least one cyclist whose veins protrude strongly?
We have already noted that venousness in sports is a controversial topic and this is largely due to the attitude of ordinary people towards it. Many people who are not directly related to bodybuilding do not understand the aesthetic beauty in strongly protruding veins. If athletes are proud of their high venousness and are sure that this is one of the main characteristics of the presence of a low percentage of fat in the body, then for ordinary people, bulging veins are an unnatural and even ugly factor.
It should be noted here that earlier athletes did not attach much importance to venousness. Look at pictures of builders from the past, and almost all of them had only a couple of veins in their muscles, usually in the biceps. This fact again refers us to the topic of steroid use by bodybuilders. In one of his interviews, Vince Gironde, who can be considered one of the greatest bodybuilders in the history of bodybuilding, also raised the topic of why athletes have bulging veins. He said that he often lost to athletes who were not so well pumped, but at the same time, veins practically did not stand out on their bodies.
Similar problems plagued Bob Hinds, whose vascularity would be the envy of modern athletes. At their peak, his veins stood out very strongly, and his muscles were well developed. However, at the tournament "Mr. America" in 1959, he took only 8th place and quickly enough after that ended his sports career.
We have already understood why athletes have bulging veins and why builders strive to increase venousness. However, it is necessary to say the same about one type of venousness, which is definitely not aesthetically pleasing and can be observed in many elite athletes. We are now talking about distorted and swollen veins called varicose veins. Even bodybuilding fans agree with this, in whom normal venousness does not cause a feeling of disgust.
The reasons for the development of varicose veins in athletes
We know that veins are blood vessels through which blood flows towards the heart muscle. So that the blood does not start moving in the opposite direction, because no one has canceled gravity, there are special valves in the veins.
Muscles during work can be compared to pumps that facilitate the work of veins to deliver blood to the heart. Varicose veins, in turn, are the result of valve malfunction. As soon as this happens, the blood begins to move in the opposite direction and this causes an increase in pressure on the walls of the veins. As a result, they dramatically increase in size, and most often this process takes place in those vessels that are located in the immediate vicinity of the surface of the skin.
In addition to the fact that varicose veins do not look aesthetically pleasing at all, they often hurt, and especially during movement, or when a person is standing. After physical exertion with varicose veins, a feeling of weakness appears and even convulsions are possible, which can lead to a disturbance in sleep patterns and metabolic reactions. More often varicose veins occur in women, including during pregnancy. In the second case, hormones are to blame. At risk are also people whose work involves a long stay on their feet.
Although varicose veins are more common in the fair half of humanity, men are also susceptible to this disease. Bodybuilders are a great example of this. Scientists have proven that an imbalance in the hormonal system contributes to the development of this disease. The high concentration of estrogen is the factor that explains the higher susceptibility of women to varicose veins in comparison with men.
With age, the rate of testosterone production decreases, and the hormonal balance in the male body can shift towards estrogen. This explains the presence of this disease in older men. In addition to all of the above, in men, varicose veins can also develop due to the presence of a genetic disease called Klinfelter's syndrome, in which the balance of hormones is shifted towards estradiol. Perhaps for some, the effect of hormones on the work of the veins was a revelation, but this is so. The fact is that in the blood vessels are receptors of the androgenic and estrogenic types. Relatively recently, a study was conducted that proved the effect of estrogens on the development of varicose veins. In a group of subjects, the concentration of female hormones was higher in comparison with testosterone. In addition, androgen receptors in their bodies were not as active as in healthy men.
Thus, the answer to the question of why athletes have bulging veins is an imbalance in hormonal levels. However, not every athlete can be susceptible to this disease, because there are a lot of factors that contribute to its development. If an athlete is actively using steroids, then he should be aware of the ability of some of these drugs to convert into estrogens.
Due to age-related changes in the body, men gradually lose muscle mass, but the percentage of subcutaneous fat increases. Today, it has been proven that a high concentration of estrogen also contributes to an increase in the number of adipose tissues. All this suggests that the risks of developing varicose veins in such a situation increase sharply. This is also known to athletes who, thanks to special drugs, try to reduce the concentration of female hormones in the body.
It may also be that the training style of the builders affects the possibility of developing this disease. Such a theory also exists in medicine, but it seems to us that this is unlikely, because physical activity is designed to reduce the risks of developing varicose veins. In conclusion, I would like to say that the only way to reduce the risks of developing varicose veins for athletes is to control the balance between estrogen and testosterone.
The causes of venousness in athletes, see below:
