Hi from Susie!

I love this! Consumer Reports separates exercise fact from fiction in this Washington Post piece. It’s a rare article on exercise that has it all right and this one does. It’s short and sweet, so check it out!

Of course, my favorite point is that strength training for women is so important for your bones and muscles! But, one of the most important pieces of information is that even if you get enough daily exercise, if you sit for the rest of the day it’s not great for your health. Find ways to be on your feet during the day. Stand up while you’re reading this! I’m standing while I type this, honest!

Here’s how to make it work:

Get your computer UP to a standing level, whether it’s on a stand, a banker’s box, or a laptop on the kitchen counter. I have a laptop stand that keeps my screen at eye level which helps me keep good posture while typing. It doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive. Before I had the stand (which my husband made from scrap lumber, hooks & a bungee cord), I used piles of books.

It helps me be on my feet at least 4 hours a day, turning office work into osteoporosis prevention exercise! Research show that people have stronger bones if they’re on their feet a minimum of 4 hours per day, keeping osteoporosis at bay. It’s fabulous to get movement in while working and not have to add more “exercise” time to your day. So, use your creativity and get in your daily dose of movement! You’ll feel soooo much better when you do!

Strengthening wrist muscles & bones.

Hi Susie

First of all I just discovered your site…it’s just what I’ve been looking for….thank you!!!
My question relating to this article is that sometimes I split my weight training into several days during the week…a few weights on mon, maybe a few more on tues, then at least one more day during the week and at least one weekend day…
Would I be better off doing 2 full days of weight training and the rest of the week cardio…or am I ok with what I am doing? Thank you!
Joan

Good morning, Joan! Nice to hear that you’re strength training to help your low bone density, commonly called osteopenia, or osteoporosis! Did your doctor give you DXA scan numbers or let you know in which category you fall? It’s helpful to know. Either way, take action!

If your osteoporosis strength training exercises only work the arms, legs, and core separately, then having a schedule like yours can work if you rotate through them every 3 days.  Letting certain major muscles groups rest while you work others is a good way to divide your strength training out over several days. For many women, strength training is challenging to fit into their schedule, so it’s fine to do that. However, it’s good to remember that there is a fair amount of crossover into other major muscle groups, especially with the core exercises, so your muscles might not be getting the full amount of rest that they require. A reminder for those core exercises: Keep a neutral spine, don’t twist, or bend forward. This means keep your upper body on the floor for abdominal exercises.

I’ve designed my workouts to incorporate as many muscle groups as possible into each exercise, along with balance and agility challenges. Using more muscles give you a fantastic full body workout, keeps your metabolism up for 24+ hours, and basically, you get more for your money (time!).  An hour of that kind of workout needs 48 to 72 hours of rest. Not bed rest!

Yes, you’re completely correct to do cardiovascular exercise on the other days. (Cardio on the same day is fine, too.) Weight-bearing cardiovascular exercise would be the best, where you are bearing your own body weight on your feet. A nice brisk walk the next day, then some more intense cardio the 2nd day after strength training are some examples. If your muscles feel heavy during your recovery days, then you need to go a little easier, either with the intensity of the strength training or the cardio. You might need a day of no exercise, or a really easy walk for that “rest” day. It’s a matter of listening and working with your body as you strengthen your muscles to strengthen your bones.

There are benefits to both types of schedules. Whichever style you choose, the most important one, by far, will be the one that gets done!

Susie's tips for exercising safely with osteoporosis.

I was reading in the  NOF’s ( National Osteoporosis Foundation’s) online Osteoporosis Community forum today about concern over what exercises are safe for those with osteoporosis. It tugs on my heart strings when I hear the dismay of those, newly diagnosed with osteoporosis, wondering if they should even exercise. As a personal trainer and group strength training instructor, here are the steps that I’ve found to be helpful for folks in that situation.

1. Create your bone health team, starting with your health care provider! Get her input before embarking on any new exercise program. Ask him if any exercises are contraindicated for you AND if you have any weight restrictions with your strength training. The NOF, (National Osteoporosis Foundation) recommends lifting no more than 10 pounds; that’s 5 pounds in each hand, until you’ve discussed any limitations with your health care provider. Your limit may be more or less than 10 pounds.

2. Get a referral to a physical therapist, specializing in osteoporosis, to individualize your exercise program.

3. Ideally, see a registered dietician to make sure that your diet is providing all of the bone building nutrients that you need.

4. Seek out a certified Personal Trainer, (cPT), knowledgeable in bone health and osteoporosis. Check the IDEA Fitness Connect, online to find one in your area. Doing strength training twice a week for life will keep you strong and help put the brakes on bone loss. Find a group, find a trainer, make it social, make it fun and you’ll make it happen!

5. Educate yourself! The research done on strength training and bone density shows very encouraging news. Overall, those who strength trained gained 1% bone mass. The control groups that didn’t, lost between 2% and 5% bone density. So, even though the gains are modest, they can accrue over time. And, strength training is not just about building bone density. It’s about building balance, coordination, and agility so that you don’t fall down. Many fractures, especially of the hip and wrist, can be avoided if you simply don’t fall down. To avoid spinal wedge fractures, standing up straight can make a huge difference.

6. Check out the “Moving Safely” page of the National Osteoporosis Foundation! It is a very thorough discussion with illustrations of safe and unsafe movements for those with osteoporosis and low bone density, often called osteopenia.

7. Watch the NOF’s Consumer Webinar Series, “Healthy Bones, Build Them for Life® Webinar Series.” They are excellent!

8. Be sure to read my blog and sign up for my newsletter. I share the fun that I have exercising with my pals. I review books, read research daily on bone health, and send the best of the news to my clients to keep them up on the latest in safe exercise for osteoporosis and safe exercise for women over 50. I’ll do my best to keep you inspired to move and stay strong!

None of my advice should be used as a substitute for medical advice. Start first with your health care provider!

Jody Loin & Deb Arnold strength train for better balance, agility, and strength for cross-country skiing.

Most fractures occur from a fall. Scientists are mentioning more often now that, yes, strength training can help slow bone loss, but an equally important bonus is the improvement in agility, balance, and strength that all aid in preventing falls and subsequent fractures.

One of my class participants, Diane Porter, loves that fact that she has stopped falling down since starting strength training. She used to fall quite often and now finds that she is quicker on her feet, has better balance, as well as the strength to catch herself if she does trip.

Balance tends to decline as we age, just like muscle strength and bone density. Research has shown that strength training helps build back balance, agility, and strength from challenging muscles’ motor units: nerve cells attached to groups of muscle cells. Every time that you contract a muscle with strength training, the motor unit nerves send a signal to the brain and back to the muscle fibers, strengthening neural pathways to help you stay upright, strong, and agile.

It is also very interesting that women in the over-50 group don’t actually trip more than younger people. All ages can stumble, but the older we are, the more falls we have because of lessened agility, balance, and strength. (Consciously picking your feet up higher can also help! Don’t shuffle!!)

It is so important to stay strong and agile because hip fractures can often be prevented, whether or not you have low bone density, if you simply don’t fall down. Staying on your feet can be a life-saving skill! It’s a good idea to do whatever it takes to make strength training and weight-bearing exercise a part your weekly routine to slow down bone loss and be able to stay on your feet.

My daughter's Christmas gift to me...hand painted!

Everyone seems to like to be motivated, especially when they’re making New Year’s Resolutions, to exercise more. The most common reason for embarking on an exercise program is to lose weight. However, I have found it very interesting that keeping bones strong is a big motivator for many women to make strength training and cardiovascular (heart healthy) exercise a permanent part of their lifestyle.

Besides being great for the bones, here are 10 more reasons to strength train:

1. Increase lean body mass (muscle) quickly, in only 2 strength training sessions per week.
2. Fat loss! With more muscle, your cardiovascular and strength workouts will be more intense, making them a better calorie burning workout.
3. Increases glucose uptake, reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes.
4. Great for your heart! Decreases resting blood pressure, reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke.
5. Helps keep you regular! Increases gastrointestinal transit speed, reducing the risk of colon cancer
6. Strengthens the lumbar spine, reducing the risk of low-back pain.
7. Improved balance because of reactivated motor units, which are groups of muscle fibers attached to a nerve. Strength training basically wakes up these dormant muscles and nerves.
8. Can reduce the pain and debilitating effects of arthritis.
9. Can keep frailty at bay for life…so make it fun, make it social, & you’ll keep it up for life!
10. My favorite reasons: I love that energized, wonderful feeling after a strength training workout.  I can run up the stairs, no problem. I really love it that I’m stronger than I was 20 years ago.

Get inspired with this charming YouTube clip called, “23 & ½ hours: What is the single best thing we can do for our health?” that I sent it out a month ago in an email. My Mom, who is 89, was about to skip her water exercise class that day because she had too much to do, getting ready for Christmas. She was so inspired to exercise after watching it that she went to the pool after all.

I hope that you’re inspired and good luck with your exercise resolutions!…Susie

Colleen, Sue, Gerry, & Moni enjoying biceps curls!

I headed up to Fargo, ND this month for the Northland chapter meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine on “Resistance (Strength) Training Across the Lifespan”.  The 10 hour drive was worth it to hear the top people in the field of exercise science speak. Of course, the Strength Training for Older Adults session was my favorite, as well as the session on recovery foods led by a professor of nutrition. I was pleased to see slide after slide of research confirming the information in my Nutrient Timing blog post. Keep drinking those yummy smoothies!

Here’s some great news about getting the right “dose” of strength training per week. Two times a week is not only enough strength training, but research has shown that twice weekly can actually be better than three days a week.

Muscles need 48 to 72 hours to repair and rebuild themselves stronger after a challenging strength training workout. As we get older, it takes our bodies longer to recover. Personally, I have noticed that I don’t feel recovered on Sunday, two days after a good strength training session on Friday. By Monday, I feel back to normal.

At the ACSM meeting, Dr. Wayne Westcott presented research showing that beginning to advanced exercisers, both young and old, often need three days of recovery time. “Following a relatively hard strength training session on Monday, muscle strength was well below baseline (initial) level on Tuesday, slightly below baseline level on Wednesday, significantly above baseline level on Thursday, and the same amount over baseline on Friday.” Baechle & Westcott

Working hard on the plank!

I think that this is very important cutting-edge information as it pertains to women’s strength training for osteoporosis prevention. We don’t want to be working our muscles too hard on Wednesday, when they haven’t fully recovered from Monday! 72 hours of recovery seems to be necessary between vigorous strength training workouts to gain maximum strength. Our stronger muscles will be able to pull harder on our bones, stimulating them to stay strong. If you have been strength training three times a week, and your workouts are in the relatively hard range, I highly advise you to cut back to twice a week workouts, three days apart.  You’ll get stronger muscles, which are highly associated with stronger bones. This should help maximize our strength training that is designed for slowing age-related bone loss and preventing osteoporosis.

Use your extra time to do some more weight-bearing (on your feet) cardiovascular exercise: brisk walking, dancing, raking leaves, hiking, or easy jogging are some good activities.

Back Extension for strong backs, balance, & coordination

The easy question is when to strength train! Anytime that is convenient for you is the best time to strength train. Do it  2-3 times a week to build muscle and neural-muscular connections to help you stay on your feet with better balance and coordination, on non-consecutive days. At the very least, be out of your chair & on your feet for a minimum of 4 hours a day. If you have a desk job, stand up often and maybe even put that computer at standing level. I always want to get a plug in for doing at least 150 minutes of cardiovascular exercise per week with a good portion of it being weight-bearing exercise, meaning on your feet! If swimming is your favorite cardiovascular exercise, then make doubly sure that you  strength train for the nice bone-building pull that it puts on bones.

What exercises to do is a bit more complex, in terms of strength training.

Take care when looking on the Internet for strength training for women, you will find many exercises which may be inappropriate for women in the peri- and post-menopausal years. Today, I saw one site that suggested doing pull-ups, push-up, lunges, and throwing medicine balls (large, weighted balls) . You need to start with much easier exercises than those! Push-ups and pull-ups aren’t good to do if you have shoulder issues or a high body mass index, throwing medicine balls would be dangerous with low bone density & balance problems, and lunges can be fine only if your knees are fine. I’d recommend easing into women’s strength training slowly, first focusing on form and breathing with easy exercises, then slowly adding challenging weights and moves. It is time well spent and will reduce your risk of injury.

Bands for strengthening arms, back, chest and shoulders

Deciding which strengthening exercises are the best for YOU depends upon a number of factors: your fitness level, current health, injuries that you may have to work around, whether or not you have low bone density or arthritis, and your age, to name a few. What works for a 20 year old could injure a woman past 50, so it’s good to make sure that you begin at an age-appropriate level, tailored to your specific needs. University research shows that bone-strengthening exercises need to be site specific, targeting the muscles around the bones that tend to get the weakest from osteoporosis.

You will love what strength training can do for you! All of your other weight bearing activities will be easier when you are strong, such as dance, brisk walking, and biking. It is incredibly rewarding to feel stronger within a few weeks of beginning to strength train and within a year, to be stronger than you have been in decades. It’s nice to know that you are slowing bone loss AND reducing your risk of fracture because as you get stronger, balance and coordination also improve. You can then catch yourself better if you start to fall and have the strength to stay upright. If people simply don’t fall down, their risk of fracture is greatly reduced.

Peaches & yogurt, a good carb & protein combo!

Here’s an amazing statement:  “The effectiveness of any protein product is largely dependent on when you take it.”-Len Kravitz, sports scientist from the University of New Mexico. I want you to know that I’m quite conservative when it comes to nutrition, but these well-researched findings from the sports medicine world are very convincing!!! What if you only had to tweak your diet a little to boost your muscle growth and enhance recovery from all that good strength training for strong muscles & bones that you’re doing? Give it a try! Here’s the short version on nutrient timing.

General meal guidelines: Please, make sure that you aren’t hungry or too full when you strength train! The Mayo Clinic gives these guidelines for meal sizes prior to exercising:

• Eat large meals at least 3-4 hours before exercise
• Have small meals 2-3 before a workout
• Snacks: Around an hour before exercising.

You’ll have to experiment to see what works best for you, such as how long it take your body to digest certain foods and how you feel during and after exercise.

Nutrient Timing: If you can time it right, eating or drinking a pre-workout snack and a post workout snack in just the right proportions at the right time can help you get stronger and recover quicker from the good stress of exercise.

Pre-Workout snack: If it’s solid food, follow the guideline of eating around an hour before exercise. If it’s a sports drink or smoothie, you can have it closer to the workout. Again, see what works best for you. I emphasize, don’t exercise hungry! If muscles are low in glycogen (carbs) during exercise, that can actually inhibit muscle growth!

Here are the proportions recommended by Dr. Kravitz for the pre-workout snack:

20-26 grams of carbohydrate to 5-6 grams of protein; carb/ protein ratio of 4:1 or 5:1, which is not a lot of food!

Examples:

• Sports drink or bar, check proportions
• Smoothie of  ½ to 3/4  cup non-fat, unsweetened yogurt (~5-6 g. protein + 7 carbs), 1 peach (10 g. carbs), 1/3 banana (8 g. carbs), total: 5-6 g. protein & 25 g. carbs
• 1 slice whole grain bread (3 g. protein + 20 g. carbs), 1 tbs. peanut butter (4 g. protein + 3 g. carbs), 1/3 apple (7 g. carbs), total: 7 g. protein & 30 g. carbs
• 3/4 cup vanilla soymilk (5 g. protein + 7 g. carbs), 2 tbs. almonds (3 g. protein + 3 g. carbs), 2 tbs. raisins (18 g. carbs), for a total of 8 g. protein and 28 g. carbs

Post-workout smoothie

Post-Workout snack: Dr. Kravitz emphasizes that there is a 45-minute window post-workout in which nutrients, especially protein, is absorbed at a much higher rate than 2 hours later.

Nutrient proportions for the post-workout snack:

• 40-50 grams carbohydrate to 13-15 grams protein; carb/protein ratio of 3:1 or 4:1
• See above pre-workout examples, but double the amounts and add a little more protein. 

Sound complicated? Here’s how I make it simple. I love to have a liquid drink after a workout. It helps with hydration and is digested more rapidly than solid food. My favorite is to blend 2 cups of yogurt and fruit in the morning, drinking 1/3 of it prior to my strength training and 2/3 afterwards. I do my best to keep my meals at appropriate sizes so that I’m a little hungry for that smoothie! Piling food on top of an already full stomach is counterproductive to a healthy body.

Remember that the proportions are important, as well as the timing. Good luck tweaking your food around exercise time. Don’t fret over the exact proportions. Incorporate the pre and post workout snacks into your total daily diet and don’t add calories unless you’re underweight.  Have fun with it! Let me know what recipes you come up with!

Resources: Ivy, J. & Portman, R. (2004). Nutrient Timing. Basic Health Publications, Inc., Kleiner, S.M. (2001). Power Eating (2^nd Edition). Human Kinetics Publishers

My file cabinet is a great mini-stepper desk!

No time for exercise? Get your DDM: Daily Dose of Movement in throughout the day with tiny bouts of exercise. One of my favorite ways to get my DDM is the mini-stepper that I keep under my desk and pull out anytime that I’m on the phone, reading, or even working at my computer. You’ll feel the effort in the muscles of the thighs and around the hip joints, which makes it a great workout for osteoporosis prevention, helping to maintain or even increase the bone density of your hips.  Also, you get a tiny heel thump at the bottom of each step, which  sends a little upward jolt that can stimulate bone growth in your lower spine and hips, like walking does. If you don’t like that thump or if it bothers your joints, don’t step down as far or put some padding below the foot plates. Caution: For safety, hang on to some form of support while on a stepper, especially if your balance is challenged.

Last summer at the 2010 IDEA World Fitness Convention in LA, Dr. Len Kravitz, exercise scientist extraordinaire from the University of New Mexico, had us  get up frequently to move during his lectures, giving us “N.E.A.T. ” moments. N.E.A.T. is an acronym for non-exercise-activity-thermogenesis, coined by Dr. James A. Levine in his book, Move a Little, Lose a Lot. N.E.A.T. simply means the calories that you burn standing up and being slightly more active throughout the day, but not in formal exercise. The simple act of standing up and pacing for a couple of steps will get you out of that unhealthy sedentary state.

My phrase for that frequent movement is DDM: Daily Dose of Movement! Find ways to get it in and you’ll have stronger muscles, bones, and a healthier BMI (body mass index). Suggestions: Stand up often, chose to accomplish tasks in a more physical way, park a good distance from your destination,  stand up BEFORE you answer the phone, do toe raises and heel stands at the sink,  make a treadmill desk, watch TV on an exercise ball, stand on one leg, or just have your computer at a standing height. The possibilities are endless! Let me know how you accomplish your Daily Dose of Movement! Send a picture if you have one!

Biking in Canada

Ever since I wrote that blog post entitled, Time for just 1 kind of exercise? Strength train!, it has been nagging at me that I need to tell you that you MUST find the time to do two types!! Strength training AND cardiovascular exercise are the basis for lifelong fitness.  Besides helping to strengthen bones, strength training will help you have better cardio workouts which is why the American Heart Association recommends it. Lift those weights AND get out for a brisk walk, bike, or swim, even if it’s in little bits of time throughout the day. It will make you feel alive and happy! Adding bits cardio by always standing up when you answer the phone, stepping in place, and even taking the phone outside for a walk will help make it happen. Or, go on a biking or hiking vacation! Strength training has helped me keep up with my kid sister over the years on our bike rides around Whistler, BC.