Kevin Daly, Club Manager at Audley St George’s Place, shares the importance of resistance training and the benefits that this form of exercise can have on your bones:
Keeping your bones and skeletal frame strong and healthy is just as important as looking after your overall health and wellbeing. Your frame holds together your posture, while also protecting your organs. It’s vitally important to remember that once our bones begin to weaken, we are more susceptible to fractures, falls and bone conditions such as osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.
"To improve bone density, our bodies needs to be subjected to weight baring exercises!"
Now bear with me on this one as this does not mean that you need to lift heavy weights to achieve this! There are many different types of weight bearing exercises that we can perform and importantly have fun while doing so!
Now I fully appreciate that using resistance equipment in a gym may not be everyone’s cup of tea. But if this is your cuppa of choice and you enjoy using resistance equipment, then this form of exercise can help to slow bone density loss, improve overall bone density and muscle condition. Together these factors will combine to help improve mobility and reduce your risk of having a fall.
The types of exercises that can be performed include body weight exercises such as lunges, squats, wall presses or press ups. We can then progress these exercises by adding hand weights to place the body under an additional load. We can also branch out to tai chi and Pilates as these are essentially styles of exercise that use weight bearing movements.
Interesting facts about your bones
The human body is made up of 206 bones.
More than 50% of your bones can be found in your hands (including your wrists) and feet.
The femur (found in the upper leg) is the longest bone in your body.
The smallest bones in your body can be found in your ear.
Bones are pretty strong but your teeth are stronger thanks to enamel!
At our Audley Health Clubs we have a fantastic range of gym equipment to help you improve overall bone density. Our Personal Trainers are well qualified to advise on the types of exercises and the range of resistance equipment you can use to help you reach your goals.
If the gym is not your favorite activity, then there are alternative ways of exercising that can help you improve your bone density such as walking, hiking, climbing stairs and even dancing! By performing weight bearing exercises, you are asking your body to work against gravity as well as the weight itself.
From an early stage, you will see the benefits of implementing a varied exercise routine as this will help to make your body stronger, more stable and improve balance and coordination. So go for a walk, use the gym, try to use the stairs instead of the lift and encourage your body to make your bones stronger!
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