Calf Muscles Work Second Heart

The calf muscles help pump blood, and the body is engineered so that when you walk, the calf muscles pump venous blood back toward your heart. The veins in your calf act like a reservoir for blood that your body does not need in circulation at any given time. Each step makes those muscles squeeze the deep leg veins, pushing pooled blood upward against gravity and through one-way valves so it cannot flow back down, which helps maintain healthy circulation and reduces the strain on your heart.

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