Weight Bearing is Bone Building

You only get one set of bones. These 206 bones that make up your skeleton are designed to last as long as you do-if you take care of them. Of course you’ve heard that you need calcium and vitamin D for strong bones, but minerals and vitamins alone will not strengthen your bones. To actually strengthen bones you need to stress them so they rise to occasion and increase in density. Stressing your bones does not entail giving them unrealistic deadlines or money troubles. Bones are stressed when they are used for strenuous activities, like weight bearing exercises.

Weight bearing exercises include all exercises that involve supporting weight, whether your own body weight or added weight like dumbbells. This weight applies force to bones causing them to be stressed slightly. The bones and the legs can be strengthened by the simple act of jumping; each time you land you are applying all the force of your body weight to your feet, ankles and legs.

But what about our hips, back and upper body? Since activities like jumping, walking and running are really not putting a lot of pressure on our hips, back and upper body, we must find other ways to stress our bones to make them stronger. When we apply weight on our upper body by lifting weights, or doing pushups for example, our muscles tug at our bones stressing them enough to make them stronger. No matter how you choose to stress and strengthen your bones, be consistent. Aim to work all the major muscle groups of your body (legs, hips, back, chest, abdomen, shoulders, and arms) at least twice a week. No specific amount of time is recommended for muscle strengthening, but exercises should be performed to the point at which it would be difficult to do another repetition. A repetition is one complete movement of an activity, like lifting a weight or doing a sit-up. You can do activities that strengthen muscles on the same or different days you’re doing for aerobic exercises, whatever works best for you!