Bone Density Basics For Midlife Strength

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Hello and welcome to the Spandex and Wine Podcast.
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I'm your host, Robin Hackney, and I'm so happy that you're here.
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This podcast is a place for conversations about balancing a healthy lifestyle and being happy.
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More specifically, happy hour.
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Together we'll explore all things wellness and wine.
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I hope you learn a little, laugh a lot, and along the way, know you're not alone on this balanced wellness journey.
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Ready to jump in?
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Pour something in your glass that makes you happy because it's time for Spandex and Wine.
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Welcome back to the Spandex and Wine Podcast.
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I am your host, Robin Hackney, and today we are talking about something that I think every woman should have on her radar, especially as we navigate through midlife, and that is bone density.
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And before you decide this is going to be a boring episode about osteoporosis and calcium supplements, I want you to hang with me because it's actually a really empowering conversation.
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Your bones are living tissue.
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They respond to what you do, they respond to how you move, how strong you are, what you eat, and even how well you balance.
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So while we can't control every factor that affects our bone density, there is a lot we can do to support our bones.
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And I talked about this in this this week's newsletter, and I broke it down into four things that I thought we need to talk about here on the podcast as well.
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So the first one being strength and weight bearing exercise.
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The second one, balance and fall prevention, third, moving through your feet, and three, getting enough nutrients to support your bones.
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And then we're gonna talk about calcium.
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Yes, we have to do that if we're talking about bone density, but I think there's a little bit of confusion around calcium and bone health.
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So let's jump in and let's start with that first thing that I mentioned: strength training and weight-bearing exercise.
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And I want to make one distinction because people often lump all exercise together when we are talking about bone health.
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Your bones need load, they need a reason to adapt.
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Weight-bearing exercise means you're upright and your bones are working against gravity.
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So think walking, hiking, climbing stairs, dancing, um, jogging, if that's appropriate for you, and certain types of aerobics.
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Then we have resistance or strength training.
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That's lifting weights, using resistance bands, weight machines, body weight exercises, uh, squats, lunges, step-ups, and things like getting up and down from a chair.
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The Bone and Health Osteoporosis Foundation specifically recommends both weight-bearing and muscle strengthening exercise for bone health.
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And here's the part I really want you to hear.
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You don't have to be a power lifter.
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We're not talking about walking into the gym tomorrow and trying to deadlift your body weight.
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Please do not try and do that.
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We are talking about giving your body a reason to stay strong.
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So maybe that looks like squatting with a dumbbell, maybe it's doing step-ups, maybe it's carrying your groceries, maybe it's doing resistance band exercises, and maybe it's getting up and down from a chair without using your hands.
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All of those little things count.
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And if you have osteoporosis or osteopenia, a history of fractures, or you're concerned about your bone health, your exercise program may need to be modified.
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Some movements, particularly loaded spinal flexion and certain twisting movements, aren't appropriate for everyone.
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So this is one of those situations where individualized guidance really matters and a trainer can make a difference.
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Even in a group fitness class, a trainer can't see everyone, a trainer doesn't know everything that's going on in your body.
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So it's important that you make sure that you know where you stand, what you can do, and what you can't do.
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And um, you'll see a reel that I created this week with just some simple exercises and a good place for you to start.
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So go find that reel.
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If you can't find it, message me.
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You can either um email me at info at spandexandwine.com or you can text me at 913-392-2877, and I'm happy to guide you there.
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But I'm also taking it a step further.
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I have created a 10-day bone density challenge, if you will, and it's going to be short and simple and very doable.
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And the idea isn't to give you another giant workout program that takes an hour and requires you to rearrange your life.
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It is actually just a bite size, just small things that you can do, and things you might be doing already, or maybe you've forgotten about them in your program and you can add them back in.
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It's about giving you small things that you can actually do.
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Because when it comes to bone health, just like with anything, consistency is going to beat the occasional workout every single time.
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So the second thing I wanted to make mention of is balance.
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And you might be thinking, what in the heck does balance have to do with bone density?
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And technically, balance doesn't make your bones denser, but it can help keep you from breaking them.
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And it's a pretty important distinction.
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As we get older, one of the biggest threats to our bones isn't just bone loss, it is falling.
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You can have perfectly decent bone density and still fracture something if you take a hard fall.
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So we want to make sure we train the thing that keeps us upright.
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Balance is a skill.
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And it's one of those things that tends to disappear quietly if we don't practice it.
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Standing on one foot, doing heel raises and toe raises, maybe walking heel to toe, practicing getting up and down from a chair, doing exercises that challenge your stability.
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Even something as simple as standing at the kitchen counter and practicing standing on one leg for 20 to 30 seconds can be very useful.
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And please do not turn this into a TikTok challenge where you stand on one foot in the middle of the room with your eyes closed because you want to prove something.
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Please use a countertop or a sturdy chair if you need support.
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We are training balance, not auditioning for cirque de soleil.
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I just want to make that very clear.
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There's so many things out there that I feel like you need to ask yourself: does this make sense?
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What this person is saying?
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Um, I also wanted to make mention that the Bone Health and Osteoporosis Foundation recommends balance work as a part of reducing fall risk.
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And exercises such as Tai Chi and balance training can help.
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I think Tai Chi is so wonderful.
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And if you haven't tried it, maybe just add that into your weekly regimen.
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Maybe just, you know, choose a day of the week that you're going to do that.
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It can even be on your rest day if you're going through just a simple try, uh, Tai Chi.
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So the third thing I mentioned was moving through your feet.
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And I love this concept because sometimes we make fitness so complicated that we forget one of the most basic things our bodies were designed to do.
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Walk.
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Walking is weight bearing.
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Your feet hit the ground, your body responds to gravity, your muscles work, your joints move, and your bones experience load.
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You don't have to have a fancy workout every day to be supporting your bones.
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Go for the walk.
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Walk the hills, take the stairs, park further out in the parking lot.
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Maybe walk around your neighborhood, walk while you're talking on the phone.
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I feel like that is a really good one.
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Um, taking a walk after dinner, that's going to help you with blood sugar as well.
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We've talked about that before.
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Just five minutes of movement after you eat and walking or marching in place would be great.
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But another thing that I want you to think about is paying attention to your feet.
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How are you walking?
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Are you picking your feet up?
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Are you rolling through the foot?
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Are you able to push off your toes?
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Are your ankles strong and mobile?
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Your feet and ankles are part of a balanced system, and your body makes tiny adjustments at the ankles all the time to help keep you upright.
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So when I say move through your feet, I'm not just talking about getting your 10,000 steps.
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I'm talking about maintaining the strength and mobility and awareness that help you move through the world confidently.
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And walking is a pretty fantastic place to start.
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However, like I said before, strength training is going to be so important for you as well.
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And just loading the body through those exercises.
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So a combination of moving through your feet and then adding that strength training in.
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So number four, okay, so food, giving your bones the raw materials that it needs to support the process.
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And this is where calcium comes in.
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Calcium is incredibly important for bone health.
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We all know that.
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Most of the calcium in your body is stored in your bones and your teeth, where it provides structure and hardness.
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Vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium.
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And if you'll recall from the skin series that we did, there are so many things that you need just to make sure that you are supporting your body completely.
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I mentioned in that skin series that cholesterol often is the bad guy, but we need cholesterol to build, have vitamin D absorbed in our body.
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And we need calcium, or I'm sorry, we need vitamin D to help your body absorb calcium.
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So if you can see how everything is connected, we've talked about that connection before.
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We talked about it in the skin series.
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You're going to hear me say it over and over again.
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It's not just one standalone thing.
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So I want to be clear that more calcium doesn't automatically mean more bone density.
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Think about calcium as part of like the maintenance crew.
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Your body needs enough calcium to maintain the structure of your bones and help prevent your body from pulling calcium out of your skeleton when it needs it elsewhere.
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But taking more calcium doesn't mean you're going to keep building denser and denser bones.
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There's a point where more isn't better, just like anything else.
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And I mean, I'm just going to put a loose term out there, but please check with your physician for women 51 or 50 and older.
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I don't know why they say 51.
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The recommended daily intake of calcium is generally 1200 milligrams per day.
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But again, check with your physician.
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And I would rather see you start by looking at your food instead of adding a supplement.
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So dairy products like yogurt and milk and cheese, calcium fortified foods, certain leafy greens have calcium, and that would be great for you.
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Tofu, that's made with calcium sulfate.
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You could throw that in your regimen if you want.
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Just recently I found out that my chickens really are fond of tofu.
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As we're going through the salad challenge, I don't know what the heck I was thinking.
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I don't eat tofu.
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I mean, I'm not against it.
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It's just not something that I typically eat.
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But for some reason, I thought, let me grab some tofu.
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I'm going to stick that on a salad.
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I didn't.
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I took a bite of it and I fed it to the chickens and they absolutely loved it.
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So there's that.
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But some canned fish has edible bones in there that would be good for you too.
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Like a canned salmon.
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I'm not saying that cans are the best way to get your nutrients, but in this instance, um, you can grind that up.
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My mother-in-law used to make amazing, amazing salmon patties, and she would use the canned salmon with the bones and just crush it all up.
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And I don't think we realize how good that is for us.
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There are so many different options.
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And calcium isn't working alone.
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Like I said before, you also need vitamin D because vitamin D helps your body absorb the calcium.
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So make sure that you're getting that in conjunction.
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And your overall diet matters too.
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Protein matters, magnesium matters, vitamin K and other micronutrients play roles in bone health.
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So please don't just think at this from this conversation that, okay, do I need a calcium supplement?
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I'd rather you ask yourself, am I giving my body what it needs to maintain strong bones?
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Because I feel like that is the bigger conversation.
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And another note to think about calcium helps maintain bone strength and prevents bone loss, but it generally stabilizes existing bone density rather than actively building new bone.
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So that's an important piece to discuss with your doctor.
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I've also heard there's kind of a myth out there that carbonated beverages affect bone density and they harm bone health.
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And it's true and it's not true.
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So bubbles are usually pretty safe.
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It's the ingredients that you need to look at.
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So it's more the cola connection.
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There are studies that link cola drinks to lower bone density, and it's because of specific ingredients in them, like phosphoric acid, caffeine, added sugar, rather than just the carbonation itself.
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So if you've heard that as well, I want you to make sure that you tuck that away and just realize it's usually the ingredients in the colas and it's not necessarily the carbonation.
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So putting all of these pieces together, if you want to support your bones in midlife, I would like for you to think about those four things: load, balance, movement, and nutrition.
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Give your bones a reason to stay strong through resistance and weight-bearing exercise.
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I can't stress that enough.
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Train your balance so you're less likely to fall.
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Keep moving through your feet with walking and other upright activities and give your body the nutrients it needs to support bone health.
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And here's what I really don't want you to do.
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Wait until you have a bone density scan that scares you into action.
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Because bone health isn't something you can fix in a weekend.
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It's something you build into your life.
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And the good news is you are not too old to start.
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You don't have to be 25.
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You don't have to be an athlete.
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You don't need a perfect workout routine.
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You just need to start giving your bones a little more attention.
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And that's exactly why I have created a 10-day bone density challenge.
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I wanted something that would take this conversation out of the podcast and my newsletter and give you something for real life.
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So for 10 days, we're going to focus on simple movements that help you work on strength, balance, bone supportive movement, just short, simple, very doable.
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Because I don't want you to listen to this episode, nod your head, and then forget about it tomorrow.
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I want you to actually do something.
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So if you've been telling yourself, I really need to start lifting or I need to work on my balance or I should probably be doing more for my bones, this is your invitation.
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It's 10 days, it's$10.
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That's it.
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Let's give your bones a little attention.
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So later in life, your future self will thank you.
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All right, you guys.
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So that's my bone health pep talk for today.
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And the biggest takeaway is your bones are truly listening to what you do.
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Every walk, every squat, every step up, every weight that you pick up, and every time you challenge your balance, and every meal that provides your body with the nutrients it needs.
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All of those things add up.
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And I think it's one of the most empowering things about getting older.
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We may not be able to control everything that happens to our bodies, but we have more influence than we sometimes realize.
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So go find the real, check out the 10-day bone density challenge, and most importantly, use your body.
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Move it, load it, strengthen it, feed it, and let's keep those bones strong for all the things we still want to do.
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I'll see you next time on the Spandex and Wine podcast.
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Make sure you message me at um, you can email me at info at spandexandwine.com or you can text me at 913-392-2877 if you'd like to be a part of that challenge.
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You will start seeing it on social media as well.
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So make sure you go find that reel.
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You find my post recently about bone health, and you can just comment bones if you want, and I will send you that information.
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Okay, cheers.
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Thank you for listening.
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I appreciate you.
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Thank you.