As men and women age, their bones lose density and become more brittle. Severe bone loss, known as osteoporosis, can lead to fractures and pain. The University of Maine Center on Aging says that osteoporosis affects approximately 10 million people in the United States, both men and women. Exercising, including walking, is one way to keep bones strong.
Weight-bearing Exercise
Exercises that force your bones to support weight help prevent bone loss. In walking, your bones bear the weight of your own body. Gravity provides resistance. Astronauts and others who live for a time in weightless environments can experience bone loss, even when they exercise on treadmills, without gravity to provide resistance. The body respond to the need to bear weight by doing all it can to strengthen bones, even building new bone cells and adding calcium to bone.
Calcium
Bones are made up in a large part of calcium. According to Elena Serrano and Anna Sablick of Virginia Cooperative Extension, your body stores 99 percent of its calcium stores in bones. Weight-bearing exercise such as walking sends the message to your body to hold onto those stores. Though bone mass reaches its greatest density about age 30, by continuing to consume adequate calcium and getting plenty of exercise, you can help decrease or delay bone loss.
Duration
For the best results, strive for 30 minutes of walking a day. You can do this all at once, or you can break it up into five- or 10-minute segments throughout the day. You can walk on a treadmill, climb stairs, walk the dog or park your car farther from the entrance to a store and walk.
Adding Weight
Though many doctors recommend walking as a good exercise to strengthen bones, Len Kravitz and Mariana Shedden of New Mexico State University note that exercises that stress the bone beyond normal daily activities do the best job of building bone. So jogging and working out with weights or walking while wearing or carrying weights puts more stress on the bones and sends the message to the body that the bones need to be or stay stronger. You can wear ankle weights or a weight vest while walking to place more stress on your bones. But these also stress joints, so if you experience any pain, stop and consult your doctor.
References
- University of Maine Center on Aging: A Whole Woman Strategy and Action Plan to Raise National Awareness About Osteoporosis
- New Mexico State University: Exercise and Bone Strength
- Virginia Cooperative Extension: Calcium --- Build Strong Bones
- NIH Osteoporosis and Related Bone Diseases National Resource Center: Exercise For Your Bone Health
