fitbody


BUILDING BETTER


BONES Bouncing, Leaping and Lunging Our Way to Bone Health


by Kathleen Barnes Success in the quest for stronger bones is possible at any age.


Start and Stay Young “Peak bone strength is reached by the age of 30, so it’s vital for young people to engage in dynamic impact movement through their teen years and 20s,” says Sherri Betz, chair of the American Physi- cal Therapy Association bone health group, a doctor of physical therapy and geriatric-certified specialist with a pri- vate practice in Santa Cruz, California. Engaging in sports during our


youthful developing years helps build


strong, wide and dense bones that will carry us well into old age, literally giving us a firmer base to stand on. It’s para- mount to encourage children and young people to be physically active and for us all to continue with athletic activities throughout adulthood to preserve the bone health peak we reach at age 30.


Optimal Bone Exercises “Adulthood is a perfectly good time to start building and improving bone


Best Bone Test


The most common way of testing bone density is a DEXA (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) scan. The result is called a T-score and is one case where a zero is perfect. A score of +1.0 to -1.0 is considered normal. A score between -1.0 and -2.5 is considered osteopenia, or weak- ened bones. A score lower than -2.5 indicates some level of osteoporosis.


The National Osteoporosis Foundation recommends bone density testing for women and men older than 65 and 70, respectively, and those that are petite, prone to breaking bones or have other risk factors.


For more information, visit Tinyurl.com/BoneDensityTest. 12 Austin Edition AustinAwakenings.com


fitness and health. The outcome is just a little bit less,” says Steven A. Hawkins, Ph.D., a professor of exercise science at California Lutheran University, in Thousand Oaks.


“Bone responds to exercise much


like muscle,” explains Larry Tucker, Ph.D., professor of exercise sciences at Brigham Young University, in Provo, Utah. “Bone doesn’t grow, per se, but like muscle, it does get denser and stronger according to the stresses and strains put on it.” “The key is to put a heavy load on bones to stimulate them to grow,” Hawkins notes. Standing exercises are recom- mended, because the bones most likely to benefit from strengthening exercise are 30 targeted leg and hip bones, says Tucker.


“Surprising the bone is your best


bet,” points out Betz. “Don’t do the same things over and over again at the same time, either repetitive exercises like running or weight lifting or consis- tent combinations; even high-intensity exercise can diminish the effects.” The most highly recommended


exercises involve those that require changing directions, bouncing and leaping—from basketball to lively dances, and even some intense yoga postures. Hopping and jumping are probably the best way to strengthen bones, but must be done in the proper way, according to Tucker and others. Research by Tucker’s team published in the American Journal of Health Promo- tion studied the effects of jumping on hip bone density in premenopausal women. It may seem counterintuitive, but Tucker reports that most benefits are gained from jumping as high as pos- sible, resting 30 seconds and repeating up to 10 times twice a day in intervals at least eight hours apart. “If you jump continuously, the exercise loses effec- tiveness pretty quickly,” he says. Those that enjoy circuit train- ing should do something else during the 30-second rests between repeti- tions, Tucker advises. Because it’s the jolt of jumping that stimulates bone strength, using a mini-trampoline or another cushioning device to lessen impact on the body won’t increase bone density.


Betz cautions against starting a


itsmejust/Shutterstock.com


ESB Professional/Shutterstock.com


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32