5 Exercises to Help Increase Bone Strength
“Why would I need to strengthen my bones, I thought I was only supposed to strengthen my muscles?” Bone and Joint Action Week (October 12 – 20, 2021) helps bring awareness to the importance of strong, healthy bone and joints with focuses on arthritis, back pain, trauma, pediatric conditions, osteoporosis, and how these conditions can be prevented. Your bones have many functions for the betterment of your body like protecting your organs, providing support for your muscles, helping to improve balance and coordination, and so much more. If you are looking to increase your bone strength, the following five exercises could benefit you.
Dancing
Turn up the music and get moving! Dancing helps your bones grow stronger by creating minimal damage then forcing the body to rebuild those areas. “Osteoclasts, a type of bone cell, rush to the area of stress and absorb the damaged portions of the bone. Another type of cell, the osteoblasts, then build new bone in the area.” – Dance Academy USA
Swimming
This activity is a minimal impact workout that goes easy on your bones and joints.
Walking
Involving your feet and legs to support your body weight helps bones in your body grow stronger and essentially makes them work harder. According to PubMed.gov, “Healthy postmenopausal women who walk approximately 1 mile each day have higher whole-body bone density than women who walk shorter distances. Walking is also effective in slowing the rate of bone loss from the legs.”
Weights or Resistance Band Activities
Like dancing, lifting weights or using resistance bands during your daily workout puts (good) stress on your bones and pushes them to rush cells to that area – causing your body to rebuild your bone density/strength.
Jumping Jacks
“Jumping is a high-impact exercise that includes these factors. Ten to twenty jumping repetitions per day can increase bone mass and strength.” – PubMed.gov
These are just a few examples of bone strengthening exercises you can do at home to help speed up your recovery, improve your overall health, and help protect your organs. With in-home physical therapy, a therapist designs a customized exercise regimen focused on your specific needs, so you are doing the right exercises to rebuild strength in your body. To learn how Team Select Mobile Therapy Services could benefit you or a loved one please visit https://tshc.com/mobile-outpatient-therapy/. Follow along with us on social media and share with us how you are working to strengthen your bones for a healthier YOU this week using #bonejointweek.
Resources and References
https://www.usbji.org/programs/public-education-programs/action-week
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28017947/