Exercise and strong bones: Let’s get our lazy bones moving!

Why do we need bones and how to do we look after them?

It’s something you need when you’re young and something you need when you’re old…It’s healthy bones! They provide support and structure to help you move and stand, they protect your organs and store minerals like calcium and phosphorus. Building bone strength starts in childhood and trying to minimise losses is the key goal as we age in adulthood. Building and maintaining good bones reduces your risk of developing Osteoporosis (a disease where your bones become soft and break easily). Luckily one of the many things being healthy and active can help with is keeping your bones strong. Things like resistance exercise (E.g. anything from lifting weights to using exercise bands) and body weight exercises such as walking, running, hiking, dancing and some sports are the best at this.

What role does diet play in having healthy bones?

Though exercise is an important piece of the puzzle so is diet, and when looking at bone health you can’t have one without the other! Studies have shown that exercise in combination with a healthy intake of calcium and Vitamin D gets the best results. If you want to know more about the diet side of things make sure to read our Dietitian Kelly’s blog post as well!

How to get started

Now you’re probably wondering how to get started and what you can do, so I’m going to break it down for you.

For Kids

Getting your kids moving can be hard.  Having the whole family involved in doing fun physical activity is a great way to get them excited. Any activity that involves walking, running, jumping or climbing are good options. For example, you could climb a mountain, start a new sport or construct an obstacle course in the backyard. The options are endless!

For Adults

For grown ups on top of the options mentioned above there are plenty of things to try, doing weights at the gym or at home, taking up running, going hiking. There is plenty of choices not listed here and in my opinion the trick is finding something that you enjoy doing, so feel free to try different activities to find what’s right for you. The key factor: it must be weight bearing.

For People with Osteoporosis

For those suffering from Osteoporosis all of the above can work for you but with a few additions. Weight bearing exercise and resistance exercise are unsurprisingly still the most beneficial types of exercise to try. Examples might include walking, light strength training and aerobics. One thing that does differ is the importance of balance! Because Osteoporosis weakens our bones we need make sure that we avoid falls at all costs, simple balance training such as standing with one foot in front of the other in a like your walking on a tightrope (while holding onto a chair for safety) is a good place to start!

We offer some great group fitness classes which help improve your strength and balance. Call us now on (07) 5499 0345 to find out more!

Hopefully we’ve been able to help you get a better understanding around why everyone needs healthy bones and how to get them.