Every athlete in every sport has a strength and conditioning regime that they do to aid in their sport. Athletes get very specific in their training with the selection of exercises, training frequency, exercise order, training load and repetitions, volume, and rest periods to manipulate their body into making it as functional and optimal to be successful in their sport. Just like athletes strive to be as optimal for their sport as possible, the every-day person can use these same strength and conditioning principles to get their body to function as optimal as possible in their health and/or professions. The first area of health that I have focused on to create a strength training program for is bone health.
First, let's look at WHY this is important by looking at the facts:
Women hit peak bone mineral density around the ages of 25-30. After age 30, bone mineral density slowly begins to decline.
When women hit menopause, women can lose up to 1/5 of their bone mineral density in the first five years after menopause due to hormonal changes.
Osteoporosis is a bone disease that occurs when the body loses too much bone, makes too little bone, or both. As a result, bones become weak and may break from a fall or, in serious cases, from sneezing or minor bumps.
Osteopenia is when your bones are weaker than normal but not so far gone that they break easily, which is the hallmark of osteoporosis. The condition happens when your body is getting rid of more bone than it is creating.
Certain autoimmune disorders, digestive/gastrointestinal disorders as well as eating disorders, endocrine, and hormonal disorders can increase the likelihood of osteoporosis.
Osteopenia and Osteoperosis can be slowed or prevented with the right diet and exercise regimen.
Strength Training is beneficial for every woman in every stage and age!
For the young lady in her teens and twenty's - start lifting weights NOW to build a STRONG bone mineral density base.
For the woman in her 30's & 40's, start lifting NOW to slow rate of bone loss leading into menopause.
To the menopausal woman in her 50's, start lifting NOW to fight the fast rate of bone loss that you are faced with!
To the post-menopausal women in her 60's and beyond, start lifting NOW to slow the rate of bone loss and hold on to what you've got and keep thriving!
To the woman who is already in Osteopenia or has Osteoperosis, start lifting NOW! Also, lifting weights is only half of the answer, so I encourage you to work with a functional nutritionist (like my friend Kelsey at Shepperding Wellness) to help you get to the root cause of what could be causes your bone loss and use food as medicine to get healthy and stay healthy!
My Strength Training for Bone Health Guide gives you the knowledge on how bone formation happens and uses athletic strength and conditioning principles to demonstrate the most intentional and effective way to strength train for bone formation. The program is composed of 6 four week training blocks with video demonstrations, a training journal to keep track of your weights, nutrition tips, and more! START TRAINING NOW!
References:
Comments