What Is The Best Exercise For Osteoporosis?

Women achieve their maximum bone mass in their early 20?s. The more bone mass you accumulated before that age, the more likely you are to have healthy, strong bones later in life. Yet studies show that by the age of 16, only 11% of girls are involved in regular physical activity. Studies also show that active mothers and fathers are more likely to have active children.

Few examples of some weight-bearing activity:

• walking
• running
• blading
• skipping
• dancing

Walking to stay healthy

Walking is a good weight-bearing activity. A good routine would be to walk:

• at a moderate pace
• about 30 ? 40 minutes a day ? 10 minutes at a time, if that is easier for you
• at least 7 miles a week (or just over 11 kilometres)

There are many easy ways to increase your daily physical activity such as:

• taking stairs instead of an elevator
• walking to school or work instead of driving or taking a bus
• offering to walk the dog or cut the grass

When choosing social activities, instead of going to a movie or the coffee shop, you can pick from the following:

• dancing (modern, ballroom, cultural)
• cross-country skiing (or snowshoeing)
• hiking (any season of the year)
• tai chi (great for stretching and balance)
• rollerblading (or ice skating)
• court sports (tennis or squash)

Family exercise

Studies show that the children of physically active parents are more likely to be active themselves. The more bone mass children accumulate before age 30, the healthier their bones will be later in life. Set a good example for your children and grandchildren.

Here are some ways to encourage them to be active:

• reward children and adolescents with praise for active behaviour
• choose an activity that members of the family can do together every day, such as evening walks or going on a bike ride
• suggest healthy female role models, such as athletes, for your daughters
• take an interest in your daughter or daughter?s activities, drive her to practices
• take photos of her participating in sports events, display them proudly
• on the next family vacation, consider a walking tour, cross-country skiing, skating or hiking

Dangers of Over-exercising
A small number of young female athletes and performing artists over-exercise in an attempt to maintain peak levels of performance and attain a ?desirable? level of thinness. This can actually result in bone loss. These young women are often involved in dance or gymnastics, where a lot of importance is placed on appearance. Endurance sports, such as excessive long-distance running, also pose a risk.

Over-exercising causes athletes to lose so much body fat that they can?t maintain the hormone levels needed to achieve optimal bone density. That can mean fractures later in life. And stress fractures in the bones of the foot, legs and ribs are more common in these young athletes.

Treating this type of bone loss needs a team approach, so that other issues, like eating disorders, can be addressed.

In spite of these problems the benefits of exercise far outweigh the risks.

www.womenshealthmatters.ca

Source: http://www.melpomene.org/health/exercise-for-osteoporosis

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