Registered Personal Trainer in NYC Talks About the Building Bone Fallacy: It’s About Maintaining Bones, Not Building

Catchy headlines offer us solutions to everything. As we’re celebrating a month of foolish and foolproof headlines when it comes to diet and exercise, I couldn’t not discuss bone health.

5 Ways to Boost Bone Building Power. Weight-Bearing Exercises to Stop Osteoporosis.  8 Workouts for Strong Bones. These headlines, though have some truth to them, are incredibly misleading as exercise does not build strong bones, at least in not a significant amount.

Being concerned about bone health is real. “[M]ore than 700,000 spinal fractures and more than 300,000 hip fractures occur annually in the United States ..” (Jane E. Brody, 12 Minutes of Yoga for Bone Health, well.blogs.nytimes.com, December 21, 2015). 

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/12/21/12-minutes-of-yoga-for-stronger-bones/ .

Older Caucasian, Japanese and Chinese women as well as women who weigh less than 127 pounds, smokers and alcoholics are more at risk for osteoporosis. Though it effects women nine times more than men,  men are still at risk, and less likely to check for it because of the discrepancy in numbers.  Moreover, called the “silent thief,” most people aren’t aware of having osteoporosis until they fracture a bone. Bone fractures because of osteoporosis are more common than heart attack, stroke, and breast cancer combined. (osteoporosis.ca).

The idea that exercise builds bones may have come from the fact that those who are bedridden lose bone density. So, it seems to reason that those who are active build bone density. Studies show, though, that the changes in bone density after an exercise regimen are negligent. (Gina Kolata, Exercise is Not the Path to Strong Bones, nytimes.com) http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/02/health/exercise-is-not-the-path-to-strong-bones.html?_r=0

Essentially, what exercise does is help us maintain and not lose bone density.  So when headlines and personal trainers say that exercise will build up bones and stop osteoporosis, it’s misleading because no research supports these big claims. Bone density is just part of the picture for healthy bones and preventing breaks, but starting an intense weight bearing program isn’t going to turn frail bones into unbreakable ones!

This doesn’t mean we should dismiss the importance of exercise. In fact, earlier I discussed the four pillars of effective senior fitness program http://www.maryjanedetroyer.com/registered-personal-trainer-four-pillars-of-senior-fitness-program/ which includes cardio, strength training, flexibility and balance exercises. The more we exercise, the stronger our muscles and bodies will be and the less bone density we’ll lose, keeping the bone thief at bay. http://www.maryjanedetroyer.com/registered-personal-trainers-osteoporosis/

And the ways exercise help battle osteoporosis are important:

1.      Exercise reduces the rate of bone loss. (AND, it can, maybe, help increase bone density, though minimally.)

2.       Exercise improves our balance. This is critical for keeping healthy and on our feet, reducing falls and risks of breaking bones.

3.       Exercise improves fitness and strength. Again, strength will help us with balance, which will keep us stronger and safer.

4.       Exercise improves reaction time. The older we get, the slower we get. It’s just part of this beautiful program we call aging. That said, by exercising, we can improve our reaction time, keeping us more independent.

I recommend 30 minutes of exercise, five times each week. But any amount of exercise is better than nothing. Don’t be discouraged. Find something you love to do that incorporates the four pillars of exercise: cardio, strength training, flexibility and balance. Also, it’s important to have a Calcium and Vitamin D in your diet to complement the exercise you do. A combination of all of these things help maintain bone strength and keep you healthy!