Need advice for my wife

Silencer · Jul 30, 2008

Ladies:

I've been lifting weights going on 15 years, and never had a girlfriend that worked out with me. Fast forward to today, and my wife (we got married two months ago) has gotten into weight-training because of me and now comes along three times a week. She is 6' tall with a skinny but athletic build and wanted to get into the gym to help lift--as she calls them-- her sagging parts (she still models part-time at age 30).

Since I pride myself on heavy weights on big lifts (I do 6-month cycles with three month breaks), I found it inspirational that I finally have someone who is NOT afraid of going with me through the crowd of men and do regular ol' squats. Granted, she is natural and has only worked up to reps of 95 pounds, but I'm proud of her and it is awesome having your spouse as a training partner. Now the advice part: recently my wife came to me and showed me some slight spider veins on her inner upper thighs. Barely noticeable, but there. She is convinced that it has come from her lifting, and suddenly she is wary of going with me. She LOVES the way she looks with additional muscle, but this has her totally spooked. I suggested it may be just a factor of age (30), or that she has had two children from a prior marriage (I have read pregnancy can bring out veins), but can squatting do this as well? I've done tens of thousands of heavy squats over the years and outside of the thick veins from the AAS usage, I have nothing like this. But I understand male and female bodies can be different.

Any advice from anyone? What should I tell my wife? Is there a way for her to continue lifting without making this worse? Any way to reverse what is already there? Thanks in advance for all replies.

finah · Jul 30, 2008

not a girl, but my girlfriends mother has it and is starting to show in my girls legs as well, barely noticeable, but you can predisposed to them and they can become more prominent w/ age. I don't know the exact cause of them but I think they can be caused from standing or sitting in one position for long periods of time as they are common in pregnant women so actually being active and excercising will probably help not cause them.

phoenix13 · Jul 30, 2008

As finah said, some people are predisposed to having them, they do get worse with age, and standing for long periods of time can make them worse.

I don't think it has anything to do with squatting or lifting weight. If anything, I think resistance training would be beneficial in preventing them from getting worse.

I am predisposed to spider veins on my outer thighs. I lift a decent amount of weight for a female, and they have not gotten worse b/c of it. I recall reading that doing inverted postures (yoga) or just elevating the legs helps by reversing the pull of gravity on the capillaries in the legs and improves circulation there - which apparently is in part of the cause.

Stronger, healthier legs will be "prettier" legs, IMO.

oldfella · Jul 30, 2008

AS has been stated, it has nothing to do with lifting. Age, genetics and yes having children will bring on these unsighly little crttiers. Go to a cosmetic surgeon and have them look at it. Lots of viable treatments for these things that do not involve surgery. But please tell her to continue lifting. Her spiders are not from the gym.

B1gJ1m · Jul 30, 2008

Bro, my wife started to get them after our baby was born. Once she started slimming down and countinued to lose weight and they seemed to come out even more. She spoke to her doctor about them and was pretty much told they can be caused by a wide variety of things. Weightlifting however was not one that he mentioned. Age, heredity, pregnancy and even weight gain during pregnancy can all contributing factors among many others. She is considering seeing a specialist to have them treated with an injection process that will seal them off and make them disappear. But serious props to your wife for hitting the gym with you.

Sassy · Jul 31, 2008

oldfella said:
AS has been stated, it has nothing to do with lifting. Age, genetics and yes having children will bring on these unsighly little crttiers. Go to a cosmetic surgeon and have them look at it. Lots of viable treatments for these things that do not involve surgery. But please tell her to continue lifting. Her spiders are not from the gym.

Ahhh... once again the man to listen too.

The only spiders she needs to worry about in the gym are the ones that will make cobwebs on the plates and bench if they aren't being used.

When I was in college, I got them on my legs from wearing knee high hose and standing for long hours on concrete/hard surface flooring working at WalMart. My mom read an article that said the elastic in the knee highs were cutting off the blood causing the vessels to break. I stopped wearing them and they did clear up. I actually think training legs help my circulation and making them go away too.

As mentioned above, there are treatment options for them if they get to looking really bad.