Perimenopause and menopause are a defining period for women’s health as this is the time when major illnesses . . . like Osteoporosis . . . take hold in due to the massive drop in estrogen production in the body. Estrogen is fundamental for bone repair and rejuvenation, and without this, our bones can become brittle and more susceptible to degeneration and fractures.
I'm seeing alot more women in their 40s and 50s who have already been diagnosed with osteopenea, and this is largely to not doing regular weight bearing exercise and strength training, combined with a lifestyle and diet that is not healthy enough to allow aborption of that essential Calcium.
Recovering from fractures takes longer without estogen. Breaking a hip, one of areas in which osteoporosis sufferers are quite weak, is more than a fracture that needs to heal. It’s a loss of independence, the loss of social interaction, the loss of the ability to stand, walk and move and thus an increase in many other conditions brought on by a sedentary existence like heart disease.
So, the day-to-day lifestyle decisions (and the right kind of movement) that we take now have a massive bearing on how long our health span (as opposed to our lifespan) will be.
In today’s video, I talk about the right kind of exercises for keeping your bones strong, especially once estrogen in your body has reduced with menopause. A hint…. Weight bearing exercise (I’ll explain what this is) and strength training. I’ll also show a few moves that women should avoid if they have been diagnosed with osteopenea or osteoporosis to ensure that they don’t add addition compression to their spines during exercise and daily movements.
As always, it is very important to to ensure that you have regular bone density checks and to get professional advice if you have been diagnosed with osteopenia or osteoporosis.
You'll appreciate how important it is, especially at this life stage to ensure that you create and maintain a lifestyle that minimises your long term risk of losing bone density. This includes getting the right kind of movement every day, regular strength training and a healthy diet to ensure that your body can absorb essential nutrients such as Calcium and Vitamin D.