Login | July 16, 2025
Blood clots and athletes
PETE GLADDEN
Pete’s World
Published: August 5, 2024
During a bicycle ride I ran into a cycling buddy who flagged me down to chat.
Turns out he’d just been diagnosed with a DVT (deep vein thrombosis) blood clot that had traveled from his calf into his upper leg, and he was curious to know if I'd ever coached any athletes with blood clot issues and, if so, how they managed their exercise programs.
Now his was a situation I’d never encountered.
Yet more than that, I was surprised by the fact that this athletic individual had even developed a DVT, not to mention the fact that he’d been cleared by his team of physicians to exercise almost immediately after the diagnosis.
And that incident prompted me to write this column - athletes and blood clots.
Now for those of you who are not familiar with blood clotting, let’s do a quick hematology 101 to begin this discussion.
First, recognize that blood clotting is a quite natural and a much needed process that occurs in our veins and arteries.
Basically it’s our body’s mechanism to help stop excessive bleeding.
Now these clots occur at injury sites to limit bleeding and once the injury site is healed then the body “should” break the clot down and dissolve it.
That’s what typically happens.
Yet sometimes the formation of these clots can occur when they’re really not necessary, and worse yet, they might not even get dissolved.
This scenario is abnormal and this is when a blood clot can become a life threatening occurrence rather than a natural healing occurrence.
So when an abnormal blood clot forms in a vein, there’s a chance that it can hinder blood flowing back to the heart and lungs.
A clot that originates in the deep veins of the legs, arms, pelvis, abdomen or around the brain, is called a deep vein thrombosis (DVT).
And there’s the potential for fatal consequences if a DVT breaks off and travels to the lung, causing what’s termed a pulmonary embolism - PE.
A primary warning sign of a DVT is pain and swelling in the affected area, while a couple primary warning signs of a PE include shortness of breath, chest pain and/or the coughing up of blood.
Conversely, arterial clots typically indicate that there’s buildup of plaque in the arteries - atherosclerosis - which involves a hardening of the artery.
And these plaques can be dangerous if they get to the point to where they restrict blood flow to the brain or heart.
Another dangerous arterial clot is the intracardiac thrombus, a blood clot that forms in one of the heart’s four chambers.
Now as I’ve subsequently learned, even apparently healthy and active athletes like my friend, can develop life-threatening blood clots.
And there are several scenarios that can put an athletic individual at a higher risk of developing a blood clot.
Those scenarios can include: Family history of DVT or PE, significant trauma, traveling long distances to and from places, especially via air travel, severe dehydration, bone fracture or major surgery, immobilizations, birth control pills, pregnancy and hormone replacement therapies.
Typically, when anyone is diagnosed with an abnormal blood clot, blood thinners are used to help dissolve the clot more quickly and to prevent more clots from forming.
Such a protocol lowers the risk of the individual developing an embolism. And this protocol is precisely what my cycling friend is currently undergoing.
With respect to exercise activity after a blood clot diagnosis, it’s not unusual for exercises like walking, swimming and/or cycling to be prescribed post-blood clot because they enhance blood flow.
And when physicians do give blood clot patients that green light to exercise, those activities are generally prescribed at a low intensity (for one week post DVT and for two weeks post PE).
After that athletes are cautioned to gradually ramp up workout intensity and durations.
Now these recommendations are highly generalized because such factors as age, physical conditioning, health status, and preexisting issues all play an important role in the physician’s consul on post-blood clot exercise protocol.
As you can see, athletes are far from immune to developing blood clots.
So be vigilant and recognize that such warning signs as changes in skin color at the site, swelling, pain, warm skin and cramps are very good grounds to seek immediate medical attention.