The Best Way To Get Stronger Bones

Exercise and nutrition can obviously have profound effects on longevity.  Modern medicine has helped increase average life expectancy, but our goal should not be just live longer, but to thrive as we age.

The goal for each of us should be to be functional and to avoid common diseases of aging.  By eating and exercise properly we can improve our chances of this happening dramatically.

Our diet and exercise program should work on improving our brain, muscles, heart, and bones.  If you can find a workout routine that helps in these key areas, you will continue to be able to do all the things you want to do as you get older.

Today I wanted to focus on your bones.  Approximately 10 million Americans suffer from osteoporosis and another 44 million suffer from osteopenia.  The vast majority of these individuals are women.  The most common locations for bone loss includes the hips, spine, and wrists.  Unfortunately many of the recommendations to help prevent or improve this condition rely heavily on medication with light exercise.

Luckily we can do much better for improving conditions or preventing them from becoming an issue.

On the nutrition side of course calcium and vitamin D are going to be essential for bone development.  The goal should be to consume whole food sources as much as possible, then adding supplementation when necessary.  This is because food sources will contain other nutrients that will aid in the absorption and utilization of calcium and vitamin D.  Some of the best sources of calcium include dairy products, fish, nuts, seeds, and certain fruits and veggies.

Calcium is predominantly regulated by vitamin D which is why it is so important to get both in.  While food sources are adequate for hitting minimums, sun exposure is the best source of vitamin D synthesis.  When possible get outside everyday, exposing as much skin as possible to the sunlight.  5-30 minutes in the sun with no sunscreen on.

In addition to sun exposure consume foods high in vitamin D which also includes dairy.  Research shows substantial reduced risks of bone fracture when women consume one serving of milk per day.

While calcium and vitamin D are the big ones, there are many other nutrients that aid in the process.  About 1/3 of bone volume is comprised of protein so adequate protein sources are essential.  Protein also increases the release of IGF-1 which aids in the absorption of calcium.  Collagen protein seems to be a good source for bone growth.  We also have potassium that reduces the calcium depletion and magnesium which is necessary for calcium metabolism.  And don’t forget vitamin K that is involved in bone formation and vitamin C which suppress osteoclasts activity that breaks down bone.

Having these building blocks are essential for bone development, but without proper stimulation, there is no need to build thicker bone.  This is why weight bearing exercise is so important.  In order for bone to grow you must load it more than it is used to being loaded.

Not only is load important but also where you load.  Bone will grow at the specific location you load it.  As mentioned, the hips, spine, and wrists are the most common problem areas so these areas need to be loaded.

Resistance training is the most common form of weight bearing exercise.  Unfortunately walking is the usual recommendation for preventing osteoporosis.  I say unfortunately because walking has been shown to do very little for bone growth. It may prevent bones from weakening even more, but there is not sufficient impact during walking to stimulate growth.

This is why performing weight being exercise at least 2 days per week training all major muscle groups is so important.  If you do this you are more likely to see increases in bone mass.  Remember, you must load the body with more force than it typically deals with throughout the day.  So if you are using weights that you can easily move, you will not see the benefits we are looking for here.

A really cool studied called the LIFTMOR study showed how high resistance functional exercise improved bone growth better than any other method (including medicine) that I have ever seen.  This study used exercises like deadlifts, back squats, overhead pressing, and jumping chin ups.  They also used pretty high intensities having participants use 80-85% of the maximum.  The results were improved bone density for participants who were postmenopausal women.

So you can see it takes a holistic approach to helping with bone density.  Taking a supplement and hoping it is doing the job is probably not the best approach.  Instead focus on your exercise to build up to higher intensity resistance training and a whole food diet that contains good sources of key nutrients.  Then use your supplements to fill gaps when you may need additional help.

If you need help putting together your nutrition or exercise program, come see us at SDPT to help guide you.