When people reach old age, osteoporosis is a major determining factor in quality of life. In Healing Moves, Dr.
Mitchell and Carol Krucoff write, "Age-related declines in muscle and bone mass … can lead to frailty and fracture --
the primary reason older adults wind up in nursing homes." If you don't want to spend your later years resting in a
nursing home, losing your independence and draining your or your family's financial resources, you need to do
something to remain independent. According to numerous studies and aging manuals, that "something" is strength
training, an activity known to increase bone mass and thus decrease the possibility of osteoporosis.
Postmenopausal women are especially prone to osteoporosis because they lack estrogen. Most women know this
and begin to take calcium suplements to ward off the debilitating disease. Calcium supplements are important, but
according to Kathy Keeton's book, Longevity, they are not enough. Not only does your body need calcium and other
nutrients to assimilate calcium into your bones, it also needs strength training to retain calcium. Keeton quotes
nutritional biochemist Dr. Neil S. Orenstein on the topic of osteoporosis: "Without consideration of these effects, no
amount of calcium supplementation will prevent osteoporosis."
Numerous studies demonstrate strength training's ability to increase bone mass, especially spinal bone mass.
According to Keeton, a research study by Ontario's McMaster University found that a year-long strength training
program increased the spinal bone mass of postmenopausal women by nine percent. Furthermore, women who do
not participate in strength training actually experience a decrease in bone density.
In Prescription Alternatives, Professor Earl Mindell and Virginia Hopkins detail these findings: "In a recent study on
bone density and exercise, older women who did high-intensity weight bearing exercise two days per week for a year
were able to increase their bone density by one percent, while a control group of women who did not exercise had a
bone density decrease of 1.8 to 2.5 percent. The women who exercised also had improved muscle strength and
better balance, while both decreased in the non-exercising group."
Increased bone density, improved muscle strength, better balance -- these three things will dramatically improve your
later years and increase your longevity. Only these health improvements can help prevent a bad fall, which is often a
turning point in an older person's life. One bad spill can result in a broken hip, an injury that can happen to an elderly
person's immobility and dependence on others. Only strength training can provide these benefits, but what exactly
does "strength training" or "weight training" mean?
A little training goes a long way
Strength training does not mean that you have to train for the Olympics or tediously do the same exercise over and
over. According to Healing Moves, a variety of workouts will yield bone-building benefits: "Physical impact and weight-
bearing exercise stimulates bone formation. Just as a muscle gets stronger and bigger the more you use it, a bone
becomes stronger and denser when you regularly place demands upon it.
The best bone builders are exercises that put force on the bone, such as weight-bearing activities like walking and
resistance exercises like strength training. This is why the NYKNYC weight vest is so perfect it combines those two
activities .
In general, the greater the impact involved, the more it strengthens the bone density." However, it is important to
distinguish the exercises that will increase bone density from the ones that will not. "Weight lifting, including curls and
bench presses, is a beneficial activity … Dancing, stair-climbing and brisk walking are all weight-bearing exercises,
which promote (good) mechanical stress in the skeletal system, contributing to the placement of calcium in bones.
Aerobic exercises such as biking, rowing and just swimming do not strengthen the bones," writes Gary Null in Power
Aging.
Now, aerobics are great for your cardiovascular system, so you still should do it along with strength training.
Again the NYKNYC weighted walking vest is the perfect solution in combining those two things!
You don't have to devote a lot of time to strength training to experience the benefits. Null believes that only 15 to 30
minutes of weight training, two to three times per week, can provide you with the bone density you need to prevent
osteoporosis. Just make sure that you work all your different muscle groups and allow a 24-hour lapse between
sessions. Only a vest can do this hand held weights only work your arms and ignore the rest of the body!
For keeping osteoporosis at bay the NYKNYC vest is the answer.
It is also important to have a vest which is sleek so that it does not infringe on your natural walking gait
bulky vests will throw off your walking gait which is bad.
Only the NYKNYC vest is sleek enough to allow you to walk swiftly and naturally.
Latest osteoporosis studies show that the bone loss can start as early as in your 30's!
For best outcome, women should start strength training long before age 50 however, women can experience the
benefits at any age. "A 1994 study published in the JAMA revealed that women as old as 70 who lifted weights twice
a week for a year avoided the expected loss of bone and even increased their bone density slightly," writes Robert
Haas in Permanent Remissions. According to Dr. George Kessler's Bone Density Program, "One study of people in
their 80s and 90s living in assisted living situations who exercised with weight machines three times a week for just
eight weeks showed improvements in strength, balance and walking speed." It's never too late to lift just a few light
weights and increase your bone density.
The experts speak on strength training and bone density:
Without resistance exercises to strengthen bones, most people face a midlife slide into flabbiness and its associated
ills. And as we age, strength training becomes even more important to offset age-related declines in muscle and bone
mass that can lead to frailty and fracture— the primary reason older people wind up in nursing facilities.
Healing Moves by Carol Krucoff and Mitchell Krucoff MD, page 144:
"Osteoporosis. Bone-thinning osteoporosis can lead to fractures, especially bones of the hip, a major medical
problem for seniors. One way to maintain strong, healthy bones is to get plenty of calcium. Certain kinds of exercise,
including strength training, also help keep bones healthy. In addition, weight training helps prevent broken bones by
strengthening the leg muscles, contributing to improved balance and decreasing the likelihood of falls, the cause of
most fractures in the elderly."