Aligned and Well with Strong Bones!
Bone health tends to be one of the most overlooked elements in the wellness equation. After all, talking about bones can be a bit boring when such hot topics as “metabolic conditioning” and “torching calories” permeate the fitness industry. However, the reality is that we desperately need durable bones because they give us strength and leverage to be lifelong movers and exercisers. Dense, healthy bones mean that we can remain vital, upright, balanced bodies in motion that resist sedentary tendencies and their dreadful consequences. These include muscle atrophy, sluggish metabolisms, weight gain, fatigue, aches, poor posture, falls and, of course, the porous bones of osteoporosis.
Wow! It turns out that our bones really do contribute quite impressively to our well-being! In light of this surprising knowledge, let’s take a compelling look to see whether our bones are stacked for us or against us…
THE FACTS:
1.) As a nation, we are beginning to see an increase in low bone mineral density. Osteoporosis is defined as “porous bones” and indicates that 25% - 35% of desirable bone density has been lost. It affects 25 million Americans with 1 in 2 women and 1 in 5 men being diagnosed every year.
2.) Osteopenia, impacting 34 million Americans, is defined as “low bone density” and results in 10% - 15% bone loss. It is the precursor to osteoporosis and should serve as a wake-up call to take action to prevent an exacerbation of bone loss.
3.) Osteoporosis is NOT a systemic, whole-body illness that ravages all 206 bones of the skeleton. Rather, it is a site-specific disease that targets the bones of the wrists, the ribs, the hips and the spine. This is precisely why we so often hear about fractured vertebrae and breaks of the wrists, the ribs or the hips when someone suffers a fall.
4.) Contemporary lifestyle habits, which tend to be too sedentary, neither move joints through full ranges of motion nor load the joints to their fullest capacities. The result is profound muscle atrophy and bone loss.
5.) While genetics is thought to account for 70% - 80% of osteoporosis, let’s keep reading to see how the remaining 20% - 30% of our lifestyle choices drastically contribute to our bone health…
BONE-BUILDING TIPS:
1.) Understanding the Difference Between Weight-Bearing and Weight Lifting - The preceding verbiage is very misunderstood. Many fitness and health professionals, including physicians, often confuse weight-bearing and weight lifting. They mistakenly believe that the terms are synonymous, encouraging us to lift weights to achieve weight-bearing benefits. This is where the confusion begins…
*Weight-bearing does not mean “using weights.” Rather, it refers to how much of our skeletal mass we are holding up against gravity while living, working, moving and exercising. In order to stimulate bone generation (osteogenesis), bones must be loaded along the axis of gravity. This means that we have to carry our weight around from standing, AND we must stand up straight, with no slouching, so that our hips and spines actually feel our mass. This is weight-bearing!
Walking, jogging and running are weight-bearing exercises. Bicycling, rowing and swimming, on the other hand, are not weight-bearing. The seats of bikes and rowing machines, not the skeleton, hold the body’s weight, and the buoyancy of water supports the body’s weight as well. This does not mean that biking, rowing and swimming are useless! While they are not endeavors that support bone health, they are excellent cardiovascular formats that produce high-level fitness. All we have to do is complement them with weight-bearing exercises to benefit our bones, so let’s enjoy swimming one day, biking another day, some occasional stair climbing or elliptical training and as much daily walking as possible.
*Weight lifting refers to any type of resistance exercise. This includes weight machines, dumbbells, resistance tubing, thera-bands and such body resistance exercises as squats, push-ups and planks. Practicing weight lifting techniques, ideally from weight-bearing positions when applicable, should be part of every exercise regimen because muscle strengthening absolutely builds bone. As muscles contract, they tug and pull on the surrounding bones, enhancing the deposition of calcium into the bones. We just want our weight lifting as weight-bearing as possible, ditching the seated versions of exercises for the standing versions when safe and appropriate. This is as easy as performing a standing biceps curl instead of a seated biceps curl or a squat instead of a seated leg extension.
2.) Practicing the Power of Proper Posture - We don’t often think of posture as a contributing factor to bone mineral density. However, as noted above, it surely is! We have already learned that we should be posturing from standing (weight-bearing) as much as possible to stimulate bone growth, but our bones and muscles also require proper stimulation while we are in seated, non-weight-bearing positions. This means that we stack our alignment vertically at all times by fixing the ears over the shoulders and the shoulders over the hips. This will pull on the bones of the spine and force constructive loading. It also prevents postural deformations associated with bone loss.
Kyphosis, or the dowager’s hump of a rounded upper spine, is generally thought to be the result of osteoporosis when it is actually the cause! Why? When we sit, stand and even walk in forward, slouched positions for years, our spines and hips do not feel our weight. Under such conditions, bones cannot grow. They can only deteriorate to assume aged, unhealthy postures. Let’s remember the wisdom of our moms - “Stand AND sit up straight!” And I would add, “Walk straight!”
3.) Implementing Different Directions of Movement and Exercise - It is vital to practice movement and exercise habits that challenge the body in a variety of weight-bearing directions. If most of our workouts consist of walking on a treadmill, for example, it is valuable to add some other formats of fitness that expose us to new planes of motion. Dance and yoga are wonderful weight-bearing exercises that pull, tug and move the joints and muscles in ways that walking cannot. We can also implement weight-bearing directional changes during our non-exercise activities. To disrupt our seated cycles throughout the day, for instance, I recommend walking sideways every hour for 1-3 minutes in each direction of the room.
4.) Choosing Proper Footwear and Walking Heel-to-Toe - My blog on foot health encouraged flat, or negative-heeled, footwear for vital feet. It turns out that this advice applies to healthy bones, too. Even 1 inch heels and cushioned sports shoes dampen the vibrations and impact forces that naturally build bone density in the hips and the spine. In addition, how we walk also influences our bone density. A tight calf muscle, for example, changes how the heel strikes the ground while walking. If the calf muscle is not at its proper length, it prevents the first and most crucial phase of the gait cycle from occurring: heel strike!
Without heel strike, no impact takes place, and no vibrations move up the leg to keep the bones of the hip and the spine strong. No heel strike also leads to shuffling gaits and falls. It is indeed “heel, ball, toe” gaits that are required for bone-building, nutritious walking!
5.) Recognizing That Exercise Trumps Nutrition - While proper nutrition is an undisputed necessity for our wellness, including our bone health, the signal for bone growth is mechanical in nature. The “Grow Bone” signal starts within bone cells. Just as we have to exercise regularly to condition our muscles to burn calories from food efficiently, we must also train our bones to know what to do with the nutrients from foods that support bone growth. This includes calcium supplements.
It’s important to remember that no diet can teach our muscles how to use calories. Likewise, no diet can teach our bones how to be strong. Muscles and bones depend on the movement lessons that we teach them in order to do their jobs properly. Let’s teach them well by being everyday movers and exercisers!
Our Prognosis: Friends, a multitude of uncontrollable risk factors obviously exist for developing osteopenia and osteoporosis. Genetics, advanced age, petite frames and being female are among them. However, I encourage us to fight the good fight on behalf of our bones as we would any other battle. Let us focus on what we CAN DO, and let us do it with obedience, tenacity and faith!
We have so many powerful choices that we just discovered! We can sit less, stand more and move more throughout each day. We can carve out some structured time for weight-bearing exercise. We can stretch our tight calf muscles to improve our gaits. We can be more mindful of postural habits and footwear choices. Furthermore, we can avoid tobacco and excessive use of alcohol, caffeine and diet soda, all of which adversely affect bone.
We can do all things, friends! We can be aligned and well with strong bones, so let’s give it a good and honest go! I am cheering us on every step of the way!