What Can You Do For Building Stronger Bones?

By Dr. Rajiv Jain in Orthopaedics & Joint Replacement

Nov 08 , 2020 | 2 min read

With exercise and proper nutrition, you can build your bone strength, hold off or even prevent the development of osteoporosis. Bones form the framework of your body, so keeping them strong and healthy is essential to maintaining overall health and well-being. Exercising right can make your bones stronger. Strengthening and weight-bearing exercises promote strong bones and healthy joints.

Here’s what you can do for stronger bones and healthier joints:

Strength Training

The best exercises for building and maintaining strong bones are weight-bearing and muscle-strengthening activities. These types of resistance exercises work the tendons that attach muscle to bone, which in turn boosts bone strength. Long exercise sessions are not always necessary and brief bouts of high impact exercise are sufficient for bone strength. Give your body recovery time between muscle zones, try to train two-to-three times a week. Start small and develop good form before you begin upping things, if you are new to weights.

Impact Training

Low impact exercises, such as walking and step machines will help slow the rate of bone loss and improve your balance and muscle strength. High impact exercises involving running or jumping, provide a jolt to the skeleton. When your feet and legs support your weight, your bones work harder to make them stronger.

Aerobic Training

Aerobic-exercises strengthen your heart, as well as the weight-bearing joints in your body, like the knees and hips. These exercises often sets your mood right, prevents disability, improves the health of your heart and blood vessels, reduces cholesterol, and makes your cells more insulin sensitive.

Walking, jogging, stair climbing, swimming and biking are perfect for strengthening joints and bones. Don’t over-work your weight-bearing joints; try only doing thirty minutes of aerobic exercise up to five times in a week.

Calisthenics

To really gain the benefits of exercise, make sure to add flexibility and balance training to the mix. All exercise sessions should end with stretching and not just for the mental relaxation benefits. Increasing your flexibility expands your ability to move easily and can reduce your risk for injury.

Exercises such as stretching and yoga are great ways to progress your mobility. Always warm up with a walk, or ease into the stretch to prevent injuring any muscles or joints. Stretching several times a week, or even every day, can help to preserve and enhance your joint’s range of motion.

Dr. Rajiv Jain says, all forms of physical activity will help keep your bones fit and healthy whilst help in reducing the risk of falling. Being regularly active will improve your confidence, stamina and coordination. In addition, practising all this reduces your chance of falling.