Protect Your Aging Bones And Move With Grace

As we age, our bones become increasingly porous and brittle, even for those of us who are disciplined about our calcium and vitami
D intake. Unlike our parents we benefit from extensive research conce
ing osteoporosis, diet, exercise and supplements but in spite of all best efforts, time does take its toll on our bones, our joints and, therefore, our ability to move efficiently and gracefully.

Until relatively recently in the history of the species, man’s life usually ended in his 40s. Mother Nature takes very good care of a human being and forgives all sorts or errors in judgment until the baby-making years are over. At that point the responsibility for quality of life and survival falls pretty much to the individual.

While the body continues to have extraordinary healing capabilities there does need to be a strategy, a campaign, to make it to age 85 without feeling like crap.

Obviously the first step in this campaign is to keep the bones strong (and yes, this goes for men as well as women). This means staying informed about which supplements you may need, about hormone replacement therapy (or not), about family history and about good dietary choices. The Internet will arm you with good questions to bring up with your doctor. Do it.

Too many people don’t even notice that they have bones until they begin to break. As is true with so many medical problems, by the time you begin to have symptoms you are already in deep trouble. Sometimes this trouble cannot be reversed.

As our bones age and become weaker, our muscles need to become stronger. We need to be increasingly flexible. STRENGTH and FLEXIBILITY are well within your control while you work simultaneously to slow the deterioration of your skeleton. It’s up to you!

Unfortunately, the typical senior doesn’t have a balanced regular exercise plan. By the way, the body pays absolutely no heed to your best intentions. It only registers what we actually do. It doesn’t register excuses so don’t waste your time creating them!

This is a serious campaign. Vow that you will never go down with a fractured hip. You will still be hiking and dancing and cycling when so many others are condemned to bed or a wheelchair way too soon.

Wrap your bones in powerful protective muscles. Stretch those muscles so that your joints move freely, beautifully and safely. The work that you do to build muscles also benefits your bone quality directly so your time in the gym is well spent.

While our focus here is to keep you out of a wheel chair, there is also that little extra bonus of looking ten years younger than you are and feeling better than you have in years. But that is icing on the cake.

Do not leave a program of this importance to chance and don’t put it off. Make use of the wonderful collection of books available. Enroll in a gym or the Y or even sign up for a class through your hospital or clinic. Join an exercise group. Hire a respected trainer to work up a personalized program for you. It will be worth every penny.

To put it simply, consider what happens when you drop a glass rod onto the sidewalk. Then consider what happens when you drop a rubber band onto the sidewalk. Like all successful campaigns, this one takes planning, determination and discipline. You are worth the effort.