There is so much that goes into taking care of your body. Eating right, working out, sleeping, resting, massages (yes, I did say massages) and they all assist you in being fit.
One benefit to working out is not only do your muscle become stronger, but so do your bones. For those who are worried about osteoporosis, working out is one of the best things that you can do.
Getting the recommended amount of calcium is important, but so are weight bearing exercises. Weight bearing exercises are those movements that make you move against gravity while staying upright. You have many options when it comes to weight bearing exercises, so you shouldn’t ever get bored.
Recent studies have shown that strength training also helps to build bone strength. When your bones are stressed because of physical activity and muscle movement, they get stronger. Simply put, when you put demands on your bones, they become strong and more dense.
When it comes to weight bearing exercise, there are two different categories: low impact and high impact. Low impact includes walking (treadmill or outside), low impact aerobics, biking, and the elliptical trainer. High impact can include things like jogging/running, step class, or even tennis. If your focus is on strengthening your bones, make sure that the weight bearing activity you choose is done 30 minutes most days of the week. As always, keep your body guessing, by changing up your exercise.
Now, as I said before, weight/strength training also helps in strengthening your bones. Below I have listed 6 exercises that will help with building your bones. These 6 movements are chosen because they specifically assist in building around the 3 key bone fracture sites, which are the waist, hip, and spine.
Lat Pulldown
Sit down on a pulldown machine with a wide bar attached to the top pulley. Make sure that you adjust the knee pad of the machine to fit your height. These pads will prevent your body from being raised by the resistance attached to the bar. Grab the bar with the palms facing forward using the prescribed grip.
A note on grips: For a wide grip, your hands need to be spaced out at a distance wider than shoulder width. For a medium grip, your hands need to be spaced out at a distance equal to your shoulder width and for a close grip at a distance smaller than your shoulder width.
As you have both arms extended in front of you holding the bar at the chosen grip width, bring your torso back around 30 degrees or so, while creating a curvature on your lower back and sticking your chest out. This is your starting position. As you breathe out, bring the bar down until it touches your upper chest by drawing the shoulders and the upper arms down and back. After a second at the contracted position squeezing your shoulder blades together, slowly raise the bar back to the starting position when your arms are fully extended and the lats are fully stretched. Inhale during this portion of the movement. Repeat this motion for the prescribed amount of repetitions.
Leg Press
Using a leg press machine, sit down on the machine and place your legs on the platform directly in front of you at a medium (shoulder width) foot stance. Lower the safety bars holding the weighted platform in place and press the platform all the way up until your legs are fully extended in front of you.
Tip: Make sure that you do not lock your knees. Your torso and the legs should make a perfect 90-degree angle. This will be your starting position. As you inhale, slowly lower the platform until your upper and lower legs make a 90-degree angle. Pushing mainly with the ball of your foot and using the quadriceps, go back to the starting position as you exhale. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions and ensure to lock the safety pins properly once you are done. You do not want that platform falling on you fully loaded.
Seated Row
To get into the starting position, first sit down on the machine and place your feet on the front platform or crossbar provided making sure that your knees are slightly bent and not locked. Lean over as you keep the natural alignment of your back and grab the V-bar handles. With your arms extended pull back until your torso is at a 90-degree angle from your legs. Your back should be slightly arched and your chest should be sticking out. You should be feeling a nice stretch in your lats as you hold the bar in front of you. This is the starting position of the exercise.
Keeping the torso stationary, pull the handles back towards your torso while keeping the arms close to it until you touch the abdominals. Breathe out as you perform that movement. At that point you should be squeezing your back muscles hard. Hold that contraction for a second and slowly go back to the original position while breathing in. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.
One Arm Chest Press
Lie down on a flat bench with a dumbbell in one hand on top of your thigh. By using your thigh to help you get the dumbbell up, clean the dumbbell up so that you can hold it in front of you at shoulder width. Use the hand you are not lifting with to help position the dumbbell over you properly. Once at shoulder width, rotate your wrist forward so that the palm of your hand is facing away from you. This will be your starting position. Bring down the weights slowly to your side as you breathe in. Keep full control of the dumbbell at all times.
Tip: Use the hand that you are not lifting with to help keep the dumbbell balanced, as you may struggle a bit at first. Only use your non-lifting hand if it is needed. Otherwise, keep it resting to the side. As you breathe out, push the dumbbells up using your pectoral muscles. Lock your arms in the contracted position, squeeze your chest, hold for a second and then start coming down slowly.
Tip: It should take at least twice as long to go down than to come up. Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions of your training program. Switch arms and repeat the movement.
Superman
To begin, lie straight and face down on the floor or exercise mat. Your arms should be fully extended in front of you. This is the starting position. Simultaneously raise your arms, legs, and chest off of the floor and hold this contraction for 2 seconds.
Tip: Squeeze your lower back to get the best results from this exercise. Remember to exhale during this movement.
Note: When holding the contracted position, you should look like superman when he is flying. Slowly begin to lower your arms, legs and chest back down to the starting position while inhaling. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions prescribed in your program.
Wall Squat
Place an exercise ball behind your lower back and against a sturdy wall for support. If you choose to hold weights, you can keep them at your sides, hold them just over the shoulders or prop them on the upper thighs. Bend the knees and lower into a squat, while squeezing the medicine ball to keep it in place. Lower down as far as you can (but no lower than 90 degrees) and push into the heels to go back to starting position. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions.
When completing this strength training program, be sure to do 2-3 sets of 6-8 repetitions. Do not do these exercises to failure. Also make sure to complete the program 3 times a week, but be sure to have at least one full day of rest between your workout days.
Taking care of your body, including your bones, is a commitment and takes work . . . but the payoff is well worth the effort! Happy training!
Tags: osteoporosis
