We know that high-impact exercises help strengthen the bones, and it’s good to start working on that strength training as soon as possible so you’ll be nice and strong in your old age. The New York Times has a few suggestions for exactly how to do that.
Photo by Adriano Amalfi.
Put simply, increasing bone density when you’re younger means you’ll be able to get around better in older age. Here are a few ways to do it according to The New York Times:
Sprinting and hopping are the most obvious and well-studied examples of high-impact exercises. In one recent study, women ages 25 to 50 who leaped like fleas at least 10 times in a row, twice per day for four months, significantly increased the density of their hipbones.
A 2005 study of adult female athletes, for instance, found that those participating in the highest-impact sports, including volleyball, hurdling, squash, soccer and speed skating, had denser bones than those competing in weight lifting. But the weight lifters did have healthier bones than those in the no-impact sports of bicycling and swimming…
Walking may be sufficient, if it’s speedy. In the large-scale Nurses’ Health Study of more than 60,000 postmenopausal women, those who walked briskly at least four times per week were at much lower risk of hip fractures (an indirect but practical indicator of bone health) than the women who walked less often, more slowly, or not at all.
All in all, it’s not all that much work. Head over to The New York Times for a few more exercise ideas.
Ask Well: Exercises to Strengthen Bones [The New York Times]
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