Did you know that exercise is not only good for your muscles, heart, and lungs, but also for your bones?
Yes, that’s right.
Regular physical activity can help you build and maintain strong bones throughout your life. In this blog, I will explain how exercise affects your bone health and what types of exercises are best for keeping your bones healthy.
How Exercise Affects Your Bones
Your bones are living tissues that constantly change and adapt to the demands you place on them. When you exercise, your muscles pull on your bones, creating a stimulus for them to grow stronger and denser. This process is called bone remodeling, and it helps your bones to withstand the stress of physical activity.
However, not all exercises have the same effect on your bones. Some exercises are more effective than others in stimulating bone growth and preventing bone loss. Let’s take a look at the two main categories of exercises that benefit your bones: weight-bearing exercises and strength-training exercises.
Weight-Bearing Exercises
Weight-bearing exercises are activities that make you move against gravity while staying upright. They include walking, jogging, dancing, jumping, tennis, basketball, and stair climbing. These exercises put stress on your bones, especially in your legs, hips, and spine, and stimulate them to produce more bone tissue.
Weight-bearing exercises can help you prevent osteoporosis, a condition that causes your bones to become weak and fragile over time. Osteoporosis increases your risk of fractures, especially in your hips, wrists, and spine. According to a paper published in 2019 , weight-bearing exercises can increase your bone mass density (BMD), which is a measure of how much bone tissue you have. The researchers found that you can achieve increased BMD with as little as 12 to 20 minutes of weight-bearing exercise performed three times per week.
One of the most effective weight-bearing exercises for improving your BMD is jumping. A study from Brigham Young University found that jumping 10 to 20 times a day with 30 seconds of breaks in between jumps significantly improved hip BMD in women age 25 to 50 after 16 weeks. The more jumps you do, the better the results. However, jumping may not be suitable for everyone, especially if you have joint problems or other health conditions. Always consult your doctor before starting any new exercise program.
Strength-Training Exercises
Strength-training exercises are activities that make you use resistance to work your muscles. They include lifting weights, using resistance bands or machines, doing push-ups or squats, or using your own body weight. These exercises not only strengthen your muscles but also strengthen the bones that support them.
Strength-training exercises can help you prevent sarcopenia, a condition that causes you to lose muscle mass and strength as you age. Sarcopenia can affect your balance, coordination, and mobility, making you more prone to falls and fractures. Strength-training exercises can also help you maintain or increase your BMD by stimulating bone formation and reducing bone resorption (the breakdown of bone tissue).
Strength-training exercises can target specific bones or regions of the body that are most vulnerable to fractures, such as the wrists, spine, and hips. For example, doing wrist curls or forearm rotations can strengthen the bones in your wrists and lower arms. Doing back extensions or abdominal crunches can strengthen the bones in your spine and core. Doing leg presses or lunges can strengthen the bones in your hips and legs.
How Much Exercise Do You Need?
The amount and type of exercise you need depends on several factors, such as your age, gender, health status, fitness level, and personal goals. However, as a general guideline, the American College of Sports Medicine recommends that adults do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise (such as brisk walking) or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic exercise (such as jogging) per week. They also recommend that adults do strength-training exercises for all major muscle groups at least twice per week.
Of course, you don’t have to do all your exercise at once. You can break it up into smaller sessions throughout the day as long as they last at least 10 minutes each. For example, you can do 10 minutes of jumping jacks in the morning, 10 minutes of stair climbing at lunchtime, and 10 minutes of squats in the evening. The key is to find an exercise routine that works for you and stick with it.
Including Olyxir Perform Tea Strips in your daily routine allows for better energy and sustenance during physical exercise
Perform Tea Strips is made from Cordyceps Mushroom, a type of fungus that grows on the larvae of insects. Cordyceps are thought to have many health benefits, including boosting exercise performance. According to some studies, cordyceps increases the body’s production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is essential for delivering energy to the muscles. This may improve the way your body uses oxygen, especially during exercise . Some research also suggests that cordyceps may enhance endurance, strength, and recovery from physical stress
