Pay Now Play Later – Dem Bones

I’m always telling my personal training clients that the work they’re doing with me now will help them enjoy an independent retirement later. It’s a hard fact to hear that having to plan for such early intervention will really pay off in the long run. Because the long run seems really far off for those of us in our 30s and 40s. But it’s not.

Think about how quickly your life up until now has gone. Birth, school, likely more school, job, spouse, kids, more kids…I know. Crazy, right? Well it’s my understanding from the seniors I’ve polled in casual conversations that as you age, the rat wheel speeds up exponentially, year-over-year. And stepping off it without proper preparation could land you on your face, in the hospital, or simply left behind because you are physically limited.

Thus my teachings about EARLY bone protection. Did you know that women will have accrued all their bone mass by around age 30? That means osteoporosis prevention should start at the big three-o, before you begin losing it. Additionally, the more bone you enter your third decade with, the less likely you’ll be to experience a broken bone or get osteoporosis later in life. Clearly loading up your bone bank early is the way to go. That is not to say that if you’re over 30, that you’ve missed the boat. You can always work to build upon what you already have.

And even though most sedentary post-menopausal women have osteopenia (the pre-cursor to osteoporosis). The cool thing  is that it can be prevented from blossoming into osteoporosis with some simple lifestyle changes.

So. What can you do now to protect your bones?

  • Weight bearing exercise promoting strength and balance (including but not limited to strength training)
  • Balanced nutrition including calcium and vitamin d
  • Ditching the cigs and watching the drinks (1 per day max for females)

Learn more about osteoporosis and the risk factors associated with it.

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