Exercise And Osteoporosis

I have something special for you here in this post and it is not my handy work, so I cannot take the credit for this great article.  This is a guest post from Michelle Aultman and is about the importance of Exercise and Osteoporosis. Michelle has her own blog ElipticalMachines.Net where she writes a lot of nformation on raising awarness of the importance of healthy eating and home fitness and their benefits to support those living with diseases on a daily basis.

Give Me A Few Minutes

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And I Will Show You A Couple Of Training Tips To Stop Weak Bones

Around ten million Americans have osteoporosis, and another 34 million have low bone mass, (osteopenia).  A disease with out symptoms, osteoporosis affects about 20 percent of men and 80 % of women. Given that the bones gradually become weaker, they are more likely to break by a minor fall or, if left untreated, even from simple things like a sneeze. The most typical fracture sites include the hip, wrist and spine, although any bone in your body can be affected.

A diagnosis of osteopenia or osteoporosis can be scary, leading some people to avoid exercise because of fear it will cause fractures. The truth is that those with low bone mass should try to exercise often. Being active is shown to not simply help prevent osteoporosis, but slow bone loss once it’s already begun.

Before beginning an exercising program, you should talk to your doctor for guidelines, as a degree of bone loss determines how much exercise is best. Physicians can assess bone density and fracture risk by scanning the body using a special type 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 create strength and bone mass, both weight-bearing and strength training workouts are ideal.  Weight-bearing workouts are the ones that require the bones to totally support your weight against gravity.

Examples are walking, jogging, stair climbing, dancing or using an elliptical trainer.

Non-weight bearing exercises include biking, swimming, water aerobics and rowing.

Weight-bearing activities like walking well under 3 times per week may benefit the bones.

Strength training places mechanical force (stress) on the body, that might increases bone mineral density. Start by lifting light weights, moving in a slow and controlled manner, increasing resistance when you become stronger.

It’s always important that folks 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, particularly when performed against resistance.

* Rowing machines, trampolines.

* Any movement that involves pulling on the head and neck.

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Exercise Tips:

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* Even if you don’t have osteoporosis, you must check with your health care provider just before you start a workout program.

* Remember to warm-up before starting and cool-down at the end of each exercise session.

* For the best profit to your bone health, combine a number of different weight-bearing exercises.

* When you build strength, increase resistance, or weights, rather than repetitions.

* Remember to drink plenty of water whenever exercising.

* Vary the types of exercise that you do each week.

* Combine weight bearing and resistance exercise with aerobic exercises to help improve your general health.

* Bring your friend along to assist you keep going or better yet, 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 instead of emailing.

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Put LIVE into action!

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L – Load or weight-bearing exercises make a difference for 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 to the future!

Certain factors raise the probability of developing osteoporosis. While many of these risk factors are controllable, others aren’t. 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 can’t be controlled. Women can lose up to 20 percent of their bone mass in the five to seven years after menopause, driving them to more susceptible to osteoporosis. It’s never too early to begin thinking about bone density.

About 85-90 % of adult bone mass is acquired by age 18 in girls and 20 in boys.

Nutrition and Exercise for Healthy Bones when people are young and Adolescence.

Much of the reserve of healthy bone is built in youth and before age 30.

Women may be more subject to an inadequate foundation process at this time than men.

Sufficient calcium intake, a balanced diet with lots of vegetables and fruit and load-bearing exercise will be the tips for solid bone growth when you’re young.  Then, with continued exercise into old age –- which benefits men as well — bone density decline might be kept to a minimum. Although women are 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 every one of the right things while maturing and into adulthood, your inherited characteristics –- your genes -– can present you with bones that are susceptible to osteoporosis. This is even greater reason to maximize your lifestyle to prevent poor bone health.

About the Author – Michelle Aultman writes for the Elliptical Workout Routine blog, her personal hobby blog focused on ideas to prevent osteoporosis trough fitness at home.

Author’s note: The info provided on this article are designed to support, not substitute, the relationship that exists between a patient/site visitor and his/her physician.

Michelle Aultman has not business intent and does not accept direct source of promotion coming from health or pharmaceutical companies, doctors or clinics and websites.

All content provided by her is based on her editorial common sense and it’s not driven by an advertising and marketing purpose.