June 03, 2010
 Guest post by Michelle
Aultman
Give me five minutes and I will give you a couple of workout
suggestions to prevent weakening of bones. About ten million Americans
have osteoporosis, and another 34 million have low bone mass
(osteopenia). A disease without any symptoms, osteoporosis affects
about 20% of men and 80% of women.
While the bones gradually become weaker, they are more likely to break
due to a minor fall or, if left untreated, even from simple things like
a sneeze.
The commonest fracture sites can be hip, wrist and spine, although any
bone in the body may be affected.
A diagnosis of osteopenia or osteoporosis can be scary, leading a
number of people to avoid exercisse due to fear it will cause
fractures.
The simple truth is that those with low bone mass should try to
exercise frequently.
Being active may not just assist in preventing osteoporosis, but slow
bone loss once it has already begun.
Before beginning an exercising program, you will need to consult your
doctor for guidelines, as level of bone loss determines exactly what
workout is best.
Physicians can assess bone density and fracture risk by scanning your
body by using a special kind of X-ray machine.
In conjunction with exercise, treatment may include dietary
modifications and/or estrogen replacement therapy.
The more knowledge you have concerning this condition, the more you can
do to help prevent its onset.
To make strength and bone mass, both weight-bearing and strength
training exercises are ideal. Weight-bearing work outs are the ones
that require the bones to fully support your weight against gravity.
Examples are walking, jogging, stair climbing, dancing or using an
elliptical machine.
Non-weight bearing exercises include biking, swimming, water aerobics
and rowing. Weight-bearing activities such as walking less than 3 times
weekly will benefit the bones.
Resistance training places mechanical force (stress) on our bodies,
which increases bone mineral density. Start by lifting light weights,
moving in a slow and controlled manner, increasing resistance as you
become stronger.
It's always strongly suggested that people with osteoporosis avoid the
following types of activity:
- Step aerobics and high-impact activities such as running,
jumping, tennis.
- Activities that involve rounding, bending and twisting on the
spine.
- Moving the legs sideways or across the body, especially when
performed against resistance. * Rowing machines, trampolines.
- Any kind of movement that involves pulling on the head and neck.
Exercise Tips:
- Even if you do not have osteoporosis, you need to consult your
health care provider before you begin an exercise program.
- Be sure you warm-up prior to starting and cool-down at the end of
each exercise session.
- For the best benefit to your bone health, combine a number of
different weight-bearing exercises.
- When you build strength, increase resistance, or weights, rather
than repetitions.
- Make sure to drink a lot of water whenever exercising.
- Vary the types of exercise that you try weekly.
- Combine weight bearing and resistance exercise with aerobic
exercises to help improve your general health.
- Bring your friend along to help you keep going or in addition to
this, bring your family and encourage them to be healthy.
- Add more physical activity in your day; take the stairs vs. the
elevator, park further way, and walk to your co-worker's office rather
than emailing.
Put LIVE into action!
- L - Load or weight-bearing exercises make a difference to your
bones
.
- I - Intensity builds stronger bones.
- V - Vary the kinds of exercise and your routine to keep
interested.
- E - Enjoy your exercises. Make exercise fun so you will continue
in the future!
Certain factors increase the likelihood of developing osteoporosis.
While many of these risk factors are controllable, others are not. Risk
factors that may be controlled are: sedentary lifestyle, excess intake
of protein, sodium, caffeine and/or alcohol, smoking, calcium and
Vitamin D deficiencies and taking certain medicines.
Body size (small frame), gender, family history and ethnicity are risk
factors that cannot be controlled. Women can lose approximately 20% of
their bone mass in the five to seven years after menopause,
causing them to be more susceptible to osteoporosis.
Nutrition and Exercise for Healthy Bones in childhood and Adolescence
It is never too soon to begin thinking about bone density. About 85-90
% of adult bone mass is acquired by age 18 in girls and 20 in boys.
Much of the reserve of healthy bone is built in youth and before the
age of 30. Women may be more vunerable to an inadequate foundation
process at this time than men. Sufficient calcium intake, a balanced
diet with a lot of fruit and veggies and
load-bearing exercise are the keys to solid bone growth when you are
young. Then, with continued exercise into old age - which goes for men
as well -- bone density decline can be kept to a minimum.
Although women will be the main focus of information about osteoporosis
and low bone density (osteopenia), some men are also seriously
afflicted by this problem.
In case you do all of the right things while becoming an adult and into
adulthood, your inherited characteristics - your genes - can still
present you with bones that are susceptible to osteoporosis. This is
even greater reason to maximize your lifestyle to prevent poor bone
health.
About me - Michelle Aultman writes for the elliptical workout for
weight loss blog, her personal hobby blog dedicated to tips to
prevent osteoporosis trough fitness at home.
Writer's note: The information provided on this document are designed
to support, not substitute, the relationship that exists between a
patient/site visitor and his/her physician. Michelle Aultman has no
commercial intent and does not accept direct source of promotion coming
from health or pharmaceutical businesses, doctors or clinics and
websites.
All content provided by her is based on her editorial common sense and
is not driven by an advertising and marketing purpose.
More great Dealhacks:
Dealhack is a blog updated daily with bargains on the hottest tech and consumer products. Never miss a deal:
|
|
|
