Weight Bearing Exercises at Home
Weight-bearing exercises are an essential portion of any exercise routine. Bone health has become a major emphasis in the fitness arena as people worry more about osteoporosis and other degenerative bone diseases. Also, many people do not have time in their busy schedules to get out of their home and go to the gym and work out. In this article, I will discuss the importance of weight-bearing exercises as well as several that can be done in the comfort of your home with minimal time expenditure.
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The Importance of Weight-bearing Exercises
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Most people consider bones to be nothing more than the framework of the body, somewhat like anatomical steel girders. In reality, they are living connective tissue and need to be trained as such. They are very sensitive to change in load and have the ability to grow and regenerate if damaged.
A bone will respond to load by sending cells called osteoblasts to the surface of the bone to repair the minor damage caused by the loading. The osteoblasts release a protein that will eventually harden into a calcium compound and increase the density and strength of the bone.
So by adding weight-bearing exercise to a routine, you'll add bone density.
Weight-bearing Exercise for the Legs
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Now this exercise might be simple, but one of the easiest weight-bearing exercises to do is a squat. To begin, find a heavy chair and from behind it place both hands on the upper back. Stand behind the chair with your feet shoulder-width apart. While holding the chair, bend your knees and squat down until you achieve a 90-degree angle in your knee---keeping your knees in line with your hips and over your ankles---then return to a standing position. Repeat this motion 8 to 20 times. This exercise will, in addition to strengthening the muscles in the hips and thighs, strengthen the skeleton of the lower extremities, including the pelvis, femur, tibia, and fibula.
Weight-bearing Exercises for the Upper Body
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Once again simplicity is the case with the upper body. If you want to create a load-bearing exercise for the upper body, the basic military push-up is the best one to do in your home. You begin on the floor in the prone position. To begin, raise your arms to shoulder height, place your palms on the floor with your elbows bent. Bend your ankles and place your toes on the floor. Next, engage the muscles in your core and hips to turn your body into a plank and press your body up from the floor using your arms. Repeat the motion 8 to 20 times. If you cannot press your body weight, do the exercise from your knees.
This basic exercise will strengthen the muscles of the core as well as the shoulder girdle and the bones, including the scapula, clavicle, humerus, radius, and ulna.
Continued Weight-bearing and Extended Bone Health
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By progressively overloading bones, most studies lead to the hypothesis that in order to avoid low bone mass in old age, people should train to achieve their peak bone mass at an earlier age while their bodies are still functioning at optimal levels. With that said, it is never too late to begin.
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