The importance of bone health to us as we age could be the difference between life and death as a senior. Sadly or hopefully - we will all make it to seniors !
Falls happen to so many people over the age of 60 !!! And it is not easy . I know this first hand. Making your bones as strong as possible is so important - women - as you pass through Menapause the decline in your estrogen leads to inevitable bone strength decreases ( training is vital here ) and men - you also suffer from loss of bone density and strength as you age .
Osteoporosis begins in childhood- why ? Because this is your window of time to make your bones as strong as possible so if you are reading this and have children or have children in your life then get them running around and doing as many weight bearing activities as possible including lifting weights ! And eating a diet rich in calcium and vitamin D.
The strength of our bones depends in part our genetics but a huge part is the demand put on our bones in childhood. However even if you neglected to do this it is never too late to start.
Bone density refers to the strength of your bones - and bones are like your muscles - both similar to a bank account - we need to invest as much in them as we can early on so that when we are older we have more savings to live on when we can no longer pay into the bank account.
Bones like muscle and strength ( and my money !! ) disappear massively as we age .
If you have children in your life the best thing you can do is get them to do a variety of sports, jumping, impact sports like gymnastics and martial arts and lifting weights. Changing direction , force and impact on the bones help them to remodel and come back stronger.
Weight bearing activities along with diet is really important - plenty of vitamin D - from the sun ( get them outside playing , running , tumbling , climbing, dodging ball etc ) and consuming dairy products. Milk is very high in Calcium and vitamin D - low fat varieties actually have more calcium in them because removing the fat allows for more density and therefore higher amounts of calcium and vitamin D.
So thats children - how about adults ? Well the advice is the same!
When was your last Vitamin D blood test ? - you can get this from a blood draw center or ask your Doctor . How about a bone density test ? You can ask your Doctor to refer you or check into the outpatients at any hospital if you have private health care . When. You get the bone density test done as for the muscle mass as its the same test- its literally an Xray. A DEXA scan.
Whilst swimming , walking and cycling are amazing for all other aspects of health - they do very little for bone density improvements - cycling has the same impact on your bone density as being sedentary - none.
So improve your bone density by lifting weights .
Muscle loss is a real phenomena but strength disappears a lot quicker than muscle mass. Before you know it - it has gone . When is the last time you did a full body push up ? How many can you do ?
How about getting up and down off the floor without using your hands ?
Standing on one leg to put your shoe on without touching the leg to the floor or loosing balance ?
How about struggling to open a bottle or lid ?
If you can still do these things with ease but you are not training … you just wait - you can until you cannot!
Combine the loss of strength with loss in coordination and reflexes , the imminent decline in bone density - how many people do you know who fall ? Fall and break .
So let´s prevent the fall in the first place ? Lets start with some simple strength training ?
Strength train , make your bones stronger , stop your strength declining and improve your coordination and balance .
Get yourself in the best possible place for aging - because there might be things in place which can stop you looking visibly older but for strength , muscle mass, balance and fitness you definitely cannot cheat the system .
Get yourself as strong and as fit as you can because time goes quickly - and whilst once you have lost strength, fitness etc it takes a while to get it back - it IS possible and it is NEVER too late to start .
Squats, push ups, bent over rows, step ups , tricep dips.
Squats in and out of a chair , push yourself away from a wall, take the stairs , skip, stand on one leg .
Check out my you tube channel for a multitude of exercises katiehandysidetraining or instagram - and if you need help starting an exercise programme - it would be a pleasure to get you going.
Do drop me a line with any questions you may have ?
Comments