We should all be training now to be as healthy and fit as possible in our later years. The more we do now, the more we will be able to do later. The old “Use it or lose it” phrase is SO relevant to this. In this post, I will be focusing on bone health but as you will see, there is always a crossover with other aspects of fitness.

Oestrogen and menopause

We all, including men, lose bone density as we age. This starts to happen gradually from about the age of 30, (as does our muscle loss, which I will explain in a mo how they are related). One of the things that affect women more than men is bone density. Or rather lack of it. This can cause problems in our later years with breaks more likely and potentially back pain from crumbling vertebra etc.

Women have the extra complication of reduced oestrogen peri menopause and post menopause which reduces bone density by up to 10%! 😱 And while we can never regain the bone density of our youth, we CAN slow down that natural loss.

Muscle and bones

You probably already know that you should do weight bearing exercise to build bone strength. This push on the bones triggers bone regeneration. But did you know that pulling on the bones triggers the same response? That’s where the muscle loss as we age also plays a part. The stronger a muscle is, the more it can put pressure on the bone to trigger that regeneration.

So what can we do? The best thing is to be regularly exercising and ensure that includes resistance training to build or maintain muscle and also adding in some impact/jumping exercise. When? Well ideally all our lives but not all of us, myself included, have done that. It’s really important before we hit menopause to be doing as much muscle, and therefore bone building, exercise as we can. That’s so that we have a better platform to work off when we get to meet the menopause fairy. HRT can help slow down the effect of lack of oestrogen but it’s not for everyone. Talk to your GP if this is something you want to try. BUT you will still need to be doing all you can with exercise to maintain or slow down degeneration. This also has the added benefit of boosting your mood. Which our fairy friend likes to play havoc with.

But what if I haven’t been doing this exercise?

It’s not too late! You can still improve bone health by starting now. Start small as with all exercise and build up as you get stronger. If you already have osteoporosis then you need to be very careful and do higher repetitions with lower weights. Don’t suddenly start doing heavy squats. Instead do squats with small handweights instead. Again, check with your GP before starting any exercise for the first time.

If you want some help with this, then why not join us either On The Green, if you are local, or On The Screen if you live further away? All the classes are mainly bodyweight resistance exercises, geared towards women and what we need. To be as healthy as possible now and in the future. You can try us out free for a week so what is there to lose?! 💪