HEALTH YOURSELF
HOW TO KEEP YOUR BONES STRONG
We invest in gadgets, stock up on supplements and sign up to gym classes to improve our health and wellbeing, but what if we told you the most powerful tool you have is actually free? In our new weekly column, JANINE THOMAS explains how using your body, mind and breath can help you sail through life — and it won’t cost you a cent. Each week she takes a different, often challenging, scenario and shows you how to make the best of it using the simplest methods.
WHY do YOU exercise? Weight loss, heart health, muscle tone, stress relief… we all have our reasons to get moving, but I’m guessing very few of you exercise for your bones.
Bones, you see, seem rigid and unchanging, but this is not the case at all. They are live tissue — their cells (osteoblasts) constantly break down and reform — and it is vitally important we keep them healthy.
As we age, bone density decreases, especially for women during the menopause, when oestrogen levels drop dramatically, and for men, when testosterone drops at around the age of 70. This can lead to osteoporosis (a thinning of the bones) or osteopenia (low bone mineral density).
Osteoporosis diagnoses are rocketing — 300,000 people in Ireland have the disease — which leads to a fracture in one in four men and one in two women over 50. A fracture or break can have devastating effects as we get older. According to the Irish Osteoporosis Society, 20% of over 60s who fracture a hip die within six to 12 months due to complications while 50% lose their independence. This is serious stuff.
Genes play a large role in our predisposition to osteoporosis, but smoking, drinking excessively and a lack of vitamin C or D can make us more likely to develop it.
Weight-bearing exercise is one way to ward off the disease. Studies have shown how stressing the bones in this way kickstarts cell renewal. Exercise works bones like it works muscles — by making them stronger. We’re talking jogging, dancing, tennis, skipping, aerobics, free weights or even digging the garden. Cycling and swimming may be great for cardio fitness, but they aren’t going to help you here.
Studies have shown how certain yoga poses can help ward off osteoporosis by opposing one group of muscles against another to stimulate bone-making cells. Improving balance reduces the risk of falling while gentle backbends can help you avoid a ‘dowager’s hump’, which can come due to vertibral compression fractures.
The younger you start, the better, but you can help maintain, and possibly even improve, bone density at any age. However, if you have osteoporosis, or any medical condition, seek professional advice before embarking on an exercise routine.
1. HALF MOON POSE: Good co-ordination and balance are essential to avoid falls. Stand near a chair and turn your right foot out at 90 degrees. Soften your right leg and lift your left leg, moving your hand to the chair. When you feel balanced, extend your left hand up in the air. Focus on your inhale and exhale.
2. WARRIOR II: Standing poses strengthen bones in the hips and legs.
Take the feet about a leg’s length apart. Turn the right toes out at 90 degrees and the left ones in slightly. Press into the feet and extend the arms at shoulder height. Bend the right leg to stack knee over ankle and look towards your right hand. Stay for several breaths. Repeat Half Moon and Warrior II on the other side.
3. DOWNWARD DOG: Work the bones in your upper body to protect them too, especially arms, wrists and shoulders.
From Warrior II, drop your hands to the floor and step the feet back so the body forms a big V shape, hips high in the air. Press down into the pads of the fingers and thumbs, bend the knees a little and relax the neck. Feel the chest melt towards the ground. Stay here for several breaths.
4. PLANK POSE: Strong upper body work is of huge benefit. Inhale and move from downward dog to plank by dropping the hips. Press into your hands and engage your abdominal muscles. Exhale and return to downward dog. Repeat this movement with the breath several times.
Release and lie on your stomach, resting head on hands. Cortisol is thought to affect bones too, so take a moment to relax and lower your stress levels.