Weight Bearing Exercise and why it is important for good health & great fitness
For both men & women, modern living, poor diets, lack of exercise and stress all contribute to a range of health issues.
Osteoporosis is becoming more common amongst men and has always been an issue for women, especially when going through any hormonal changes.
However, its not all bad news. Exercise in many forms can help with osteoporosis – it won’t reverse the condition but it can control it and it can stall the spread.
What are the best exercises? What does weight bearing exercise mean?
- Weight bearing exercise includes any exercise where you bear the weight of your body or indeed where you lift weights, so….
- Weight lifting, resistance training is top of the list. Lifting weights stimulates the skeleton to produce new bone cells and discard older weaker bone cells (known in science as osteoblasts and osteoclasts!)
- Hour of Power – lifting lighter weights for long reps is a great way to strengthen bones and tick off a great cardio workout too
- Running is great for putting force through the legs and hips
- Good old fashioned bodyweight exercises such as press ups, burpees, squat thrusts – basically all the moves you perform in Metafit, Insanity or any other circuits style conditioning class
- We can add Yoga & Tai-Chi to the list too!
Watch this wee video for a short educational view of how you build bones
http://random42.com/bone-biology-osteoblasts-and-osteoclasts-animation
Conrad Rafique, Fitness Coach & mPT November 2015