EXERCISE AND YOUR BONES
Maintain mass and strength
Bone health is as important as heart health, however it’s not as frequently discussed. Your bones create a frame for the body and serve as a bank for minerals which are essential for bodily function. A strong skeleton provides structure, protects organs, and anchors muscles and tendons to enable the body to move with power and grace.
Your bones are continuously changing through a breaking down and building up process called modelling and remodelling. Modelling is the formation of new bone in one site and the removal of old bone. This process allows bones to grow in size and shape until adulthood. Early in life, your body is making new bones faster than it breaks down old bones until you reach peak bone mass around the age of 30.
Remodeling happens when the bones are fully formed. There is no longer a change in bone size or shape, rather a continuous regulation of bone turnover. There is a slightly higher degree of bone loss and sarcopenia — muscle loss — as part of the body’s aging process. It is important to combat this gradual loss as you age to maintain healthy function.
Although it’s a natural process for bone and muscle loss to occur with age, it doesn’t have to be the case. The human body is adaptable and, with exercise and proper nutrition, the aging effect can be altered or at least slowed down.
Physical activity is one of the most important lifestyle habits to help prevent or reduce the risk of a number of diseases, including osteoporosis. Without a doubt, exercise positively influences bone and muscle development. Osteogenesis, the formation of bone, occurs in response to mechanical loading. Inactivity, with its lack of loading, prevents bones from receiving the signal to adapt, leading to bone loss.
Most people understand exercise will strengthen the heart and muscles, but weight-bearing exercise also puts stress on the bones, stimulating them to respond and strengthen. While all exercise is beneficial, recent research indicates that some activities help bones more than others.
Bones need impact, and although walking is a great activity, it may only have a limited effect on bone development. It is a great place to start if you have been inactive or have been diagnosed with osteoporosis, but a gradual increase in load will be more effective. In a young, healthy body, high-impact activities show much better results in bone health.
Muscles are the key factor in exerting mechanical force on the skeleton, so increasing muscle strength is important. Resistance training has been widely researched and has proven to be the most effective way to increase bone mass. As well as being positive for bone development, it improves muscle mass and strength — both of which are crucial for osteogenesis.
A resistance training program should be progressive and include exercises that involve full-body functional movement. The resistance needs to be heavy enough to stimulate change and should progress as strength develops.
High-impact activities such as running, hopping, jumping and skipping induce high-magnitude strain in bone at a high rate, producing an osteogenic effect. Impact activities are critical for bone development. Including unilateral movement that shifts the weight from one side of the body to the other, such as singleleg hopping or side-to-side leaping, improves balance, which is important for fall prevention.
Balance exercises are important for posture control. Keeping the neuromuscular system and the balance receptors in your body functioning optimally is an important part of overall health, especially with age.
Other important considerations for bone health are: adequate calcium in your diet, sufficient vitamin D and other vitamins and minerals, hormonal balances, proper sleep, limited tobacco and alcohol use, and awareness of medication that may affect the strength of your bones.
Consult your health-care provider and registered dietitian for a personalized health plan regarding nutrition and medications. Enlist the services of a certified personal trainer for exercise-specific programming for bone health.
Bone-density loss and osteoporosis are often thought of as an “old person” issue but, in fact, developing strong bones at a young age is the best way to counteract bone loss later in life.