How to Train for Vascularity to Make Your Muscles Pop

Trevor Thieme C.S.C.S.

January 27, 2020 4:14 PM

This is Your Quick Training Tip , a chance to learn how to work smarter in just a few moments so you can get right to your workout.

How to Train to Make Your Veins Pop

Some of the fittest guys in the gym typically share a few things in common: Theyre incredibly lean, their muscles stand out like they were chiseled from marble, and they have thick veins snaking along their arms and legs like jungle vines.

That last attribute is known as vascularity, and its a clear sign that youre strong as hellor at least that you have good genetics and a remarkably low body fat percentage, as those are the most important variables when it comes to how visible your veins are.

Youll likely only notice your veins bulging when you lift weights, move heavy furniture, or perform some other kind of sustained strength challenge. Thats because when you do repetitive, strenuous, physical work, your muscles become engorged with blood, and that swelling (a.k.a. pump ) pushes your veins closer to the surface. But youll only see them if your body fat percentage is in the low double digits, and theyll only stand out like swollen garden hoses if your body fat percentage is in the single digits.

Thats why the veins of competitive bodybuilders are so prominentthe athletes have whittled their body fat percentage down to eight percent or lower. Youll also notice that, just like the guys in your gym, some bodybuilders seem to have greater vascularity than others. Thats not because of how they trainits genetic. Some people naturally have more veins closer to the surface of their skin than others. Before you make vascularity your main training goal, remember that you might not have that type of body, and that's okay. You should always keep your goals within reason, since no one person is the same as another, and don't take drastic steps to cut your body fat unless you have a specific plan with help from fitness and health professionals.

That said, how you go about your training can influence the degree to which your veins stand out. Here's what you need to know to try to maximize the effect yourself.

Youre move: To make your veins bulge during your workout, make like a bodybuilder and chase the pump with high (15 to 20) rep sets and other training protocols that increase your muscles time under tension.

Lifting in this way wont expand the network of veins beneath your skinas explained above, thats written in your DNAbut research shows that this style of training can have another, even greater benefit: enhanced muscle growth.

Trevor Thieme C.S.C.S.