It doesn’t matter how old you are—exercise is important to your overall health. An increase in exercise can decrease your risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, breast cancer, and colon cancer. Exercise will give you more energy and better sleep. Regular exercise has also been found to decrease depression in a couple of ways.
First, exercise releases endorphins, the “feel-good” substances related to mood. Second, the social interaction of group exercise or sports can reduce depression as well.
We can add bone health to the list of important reasons to exercise because we know that the stress of weight-bearing exercise and strength training helps bone mass. Any significant increases in stress on bone from exercise— that is, weight-bearing and resistance exercises—will actually signal the need to build more bone.
Stress on bone literally shifts the bone-building process into high gear. Exercise is known to assist individuals who want to lose weight or who want to maintain a healthy weight, and exercise may also play a role in reducing symptoms of arthritis (see Question 96).
Strength training exercises, such as weight lifting, can increase your body’s muscle mass, which in turn increases your body’s metabolic rate. If you increase your muscle mass by 3 pounds, your metabolic rate increases by 7%, which allows you to add some extra calories to your diet without fearing they will add extra fat.
Exercise is important in preventing and treating osteoporosis for several reasons. First, it improves the integrity of the bone by preserving what you already have. The stress on bone that is exerted by weight-bearing and resistance exercise causes an increase in bone formation.
Secondly, exercise can help to reduce falls by improving muscle tone and balance. Lastly, though definitely not least in the order of importance, moderate weight-bearing exercise for 4 hours per week can reduce the risk of hip fracture by up to 40%.
The less you engage in physical activity, the less stress is placed on your bones. This costs you bone mass and muscle mass, a high price to pay for a sedentary lifestyle. Women engage in regular physical activity less than men, and they can ill afford to be less active because they are at higher risk of osteoporosis just by virtue of being women. Inadequate activity can make anyone, but particularly women, become frail, increasing their risk of osteoporosis and fracture.
Marjory’s comment:
As a nurse, I’ve always been aware of when my rheumatologist was examining my hands and feet for bone density and evidence of rheumatoid arthritis, he said my bones looked good and that I didn’t have osteoporosis. I had my first bone density test of my hip and spine about 10 years ago, and I’ve had a couple more since then. After one of the tests, my doctor said that I had the bones of a 27-year-old (but where did the body of the 27-year-old go?!).
I try to maintain a healthy diet with lots of fruits and vegetables, but I also know I should lose about 20 pounds. It’s just that the one disadvantage to exercising regularly is that it makes me so hungry! In addition to exercising regularly, I take 1000 mg of calcium supplements with vitamin D.
And, in part because I was getting lots of foot cramps in the pool and at night, I also take 500 mg a day of magnesium.