Spinning for Stronger Veins

Spinning for Stronger Veins                                                                             by Andy Matthews

As a person living with hemophilia, I love anything to do with fitness and building great veins.  From the time I was a small boy I always wanted to be as strong as I could.  I have come across a great item that I think will really help build strength in your forearms and consequently build your veins.  If you have hemophilia, your veins are your lifelines and you really have to be diligent to keep building them.

I was in my local REI one afternoon -I had a gift card to spend, and I saw a Gyro exercise ball which is meant to improve your grip and since I have recently built a climbing wall and need something to help build my grip strength, I decided  I would try it.  I brought it home and after a little struggling I got it to work; man is this a neat device!   I think this is one of the best exercise tools for anyone, especially people with a bleeding disorder who have to access their veins a lot.

The basic idea is that you are working against gravity and the harder you spin the ball, the more resistance it creates.  The great thing is that a person of almost any age or strength level could use it, and I don’t think you could ever get a bleed from it.  The faster you spin it the stronger you get!  And, the more you build your forearms, the better your veins will become.  If you have really bad elbows, there is a chance this could give you problems, so as with any new exercise, you should ask your physical therapist at your HTC or your doctor if you have any questions.  The neat thing about fitness is, if you are dedicated to it, you will get results.

Young men, this will be a great thing for your arm veins and the girls will love it to!  Moms and dads, this would be a great thing to do with your son or daughter who has a bleeding disorder; you could even make a contest out of it.  Men and women, this is also a great device to use if you have trouble lifting weights and getting a traditional workout in.  You can find them at REI, or probably at any sporting goods store, or look on the internet too where I just bought some more for only $15.00 each at Amazon.com.  Here’s their website, www.dynaflexpro.com, to read more and see video of it in action.  Good luck and please let me know if you try it and how you like it.

Keep spinning…Andy Matthews, andy.matthews@stcare.com