Monday, April 30, 2012

Strength Training Build Stronger Bones

Everyone wants to be physically fit and strong, because it helps prevent physical illnesses such as osteoporosis. People nowadays tend to try all sorts of exercises, just so they can improve their bone density, weight, and other aspects of their bodies. Chances are you have tried weight training some time in your life; tried drinking milk which promised that you would have stronger bones, or tried regular exercise.
However, today, strength training is probably the most common activity done by individuals to build stronger bones. Strength training, or weight training, helps build muscles in your body. Similarly, it also improves the bones' strength and density as you exert effort or a degree of overload on them. This is the reason why people who are getting older are the ones who go to the gym more often, rather than those who are in their early or mid-twenties.
When you are in the gym doing a physical activity, like a weight-bearing exercise, it provides you mechanical stimuli which are known for improving the bone strength. This is because your muscles, and also your bones work against gravity, which makes you control your own weight. Another example of strength training is when you do intensity-related exercises like moving weights. The more weight you move and the heavier it is, the more that it makes your bones stronger.
Strength training does so many things for your bones and your muscles, and so as you grow older, the more you will need these exercises to maintain the capacity of your bones, and also to avoid the risks of getting osteoporosis and other fractures. In addition, when you have stronger bones and muscles, it gives you more strength as you go along with your daily activities, and so you are able to last longer than you normally do. You will be able to endure tedious activities, and even those that require a lot of effort-in case you are a sports fanatic.
If you want to strengthen your bones, you may start with simple workouts each day, like running around for a couple of minutes. You may also do simple stretches to warm your bones up, so that you would not feel much pain when you start lifting weights. Of course, you need not to lift heavy weights the moment you begin; you should just start with light weights, those you can lift comfortably for a couple of times. After which, you can gradually add more weights, so that you can improve more until you can do resistance training. This works best when you want to make your bones stronger.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Bones Stronger When They Heal

Your bones play a very important role in pre-forming everyday tasks. They are made of hard components to support your body as well as your vital organs. Your bones have the ability to bend but only in a limited degree. However, when too much pressure is on it, bones can break or snap. There are a lot of instances in which you can break your bone like when you fall from a tree or smashing into a moving car.
A fracture is a condition in which a bone is broken. However, there is more than one way to break or fracture a bone. When a bone is totally broken into two, it is called a complete fracture. When a bone cracks halfway through, it is called a greenstick fracture. A single fracture happens when a bone is broken only in one place. When the bone is broken into more than two pieces, it is called a comminuted fracture. In children, when the bone bends but does not break, it is called a bowling fracture. There is also an open fracture when the bone is sticking through the skin.
When fractures happen, the doctors would make use of an X-ray so they can see which bones are to set back to their positions. Then the bones would heal naturally. The fractured part will produce new bone cells as well as blood vessels to rebuild the damaged bone. The cells would cover up the broken part of the bone until it is as good as new.
You may have heard that broken bones become stronger when they are healed. Though bones can get stronger under pressure, this is only true up to some point. Athletes develop greater bone mass after trainings which they need to perform well on their games. However, there is no such proof that when a broken bone heals, it would be stronger than it was before the fracture happens.
The process of bone recovery after a fracture is truly a remarkable process in which the fractured area becomes stronger than the bone surrounding it. This is because calcium is concentrated on that part for rebuilding purposes. The plaster cast is also worn to protect the fractured area only. And since there is no pressure on the surrounding bones, they become relatively weaker during the healing process. However, when you use your arm or your leg later after the bone has finally recovered, the fractured area before and the surrounding bones will reach equal strength already. The place of the fracture have the same chances of being broken again just like any bone in your body. In tests conducted with healed fractures, it was proven that there is an equal distribution of another bone breakage.

Monday, April 16, 2012

Causes Stress Fractures In Bones

It is so easy to think that your bones are strong to the point that very little and rare circumstances would lead to their failure. This is why most people are alarmed when they get fractures or bone disorders. They tend to think that as the disorder is able to affect something as strong as a bone, then it must be really serious. Actually, it is not entirely the case. Any part of your body is susceptible to illnesses and disorders. Your bones are no exceptions. Therefore, you have to understand the causes of most disorders affecting your bones to be able to protect yourself from them.
One of the common disorders that affect your bones is a stress fracture. This is a type of fracture attributed to overusing your bones. Putting on pressure and work load to your bone is met by a resistance within. Your bones change and repair themselves to continuously cope with the force and pressure put on them. Calcium, a substance that strengthens the bones, is distributed to the certain parts that experience most of the external pressure. This is a natural reaction that ensures your bones would not easily break under the pressure.
However, when loads and pressures are repetitively charged against a specific part of your bone the natural course of repairing is disrupted. It causes stress on the pressured points until eventually, small cracks form. As the condition worsens, your bones cannot find anymore time to harden the pressured points and cracks can turn into stress fractures.
A stress fracture is caused by constant pressure placed on the bone with a frequency that allows no room for repairing. This happens mostly to athletes who engage in physical activities and exercise routines that are constantly stressing out the bones and muscles. It can also occur in cases where a usually inactive body is forced to undergo extreme physical activities.
A rare cause of stress fractures is muscle fatigue. This occurs when you are engaged in an activity that requires both of your muscle and bone working together to exert effort. But eventually, your muscles get tired. This leaves the bones bearing most of the pressure and strain until stress fracture occurs.
It is really frightening to think of your bones having stress fractures because it may weaken your bone structure. To avoid being affected negatively by stress fractures, you can consult your trusted doctor or your trusted osteopath. They will help you strengthen your bones and release tension from within to avoid the fractures and cracks from forming.

Monday, April 9, 2012

Inside Our Bones

Looking at the bones of the animals that you eat, it has been quite easy to picture your own bones. From pictures in books and on the Internet, you have also been shown how a human bone looks. You know that it basically has a pearly white color and a smooth surface like that of a marble. In actual though, your bones have more inside it than being that white thing.
There are different layers inside your bones. The hard and outermost layer is called the periosteum. This part of your bone is the most sensitive to external pressures. It contains within it various blood vessels and veins that transport blood and nutrients to be used by the different parts of your body.
After the hard layer of periosteum, the next is the compact bone. The tissue inside the compact bone has very little gaps or spaces thus making it only 5% to 30% porous. It is mostly responsible for giving your bones their common attributes of being white, smooth and strong. In an adult skeleton, 80% of the total bone mass is attributed to the compact bone.
Under the layer of compact bone is the trabecular or cancellous bone. 20% of the total bone mass in your skeleton is attributed to this layer of your bones. It is found mostly in the interior part of your bone and resembles a sponge in terms of physical appearance. As such, it is relatively softer than the compact bone, 30% to 90% porous and with generous amounts of space for the marrow.
Finally, you have the marrow in the innermost part. In terms of physical appearance, it can be likened to a jelly with either a red or yellow hue. The bone marrow is a popular layer because of its important function of producing new blood cells for your body.
Aside from the layers of the bones, there are of course cells within it. There are several types of these cells. One is the osteoblasts, located on the surface of the osteoid seams. They produce a type of protein that manufactures bones and produces hormones. Another type of cell within your bones is the osteocytes. Their main functions include the formation and maintenance of your bone matrix as well as the regulation of the way your bones cope with stress. Lastly, you have the osteoclasts that are mainly responsible for the breaking down of the old bone to be replaced by a new one.

Monday, April 2, 2012

Personal Trainers Work Better Than Gyms

Generally there a variety of approaches to improve your fitness level and to get into the very best form of yourself. You are able to lift weights, jog, go walking, or maybe engage in well-known fitness courses such as Zumba or even Pilates. For those who wish to be your very best, however, you have to find the best fitness expert. Personal training can certainly make a major difference for individuals who want to satisfy his or her individual objectives. To find the best fitness instructor, you must look at several important elements. Get a personal fitness trainer who is a devoted professional and also someone who will offer you a prepared exercise program, a personalized assessment, and solid recommendations.
The 1st step is to discover a professional career fitness instructor. Consult with workers at the nearby work out center to obtain prospects regarding full-time coaches who happen to be participating in further education. Health clubs across the nation often retain these people who'd be more than prepared to serve as a personal fitness instructor. Refrain from individuals who see personal fitness training as a pastime or perhaps a side job.
The next step is usually to talk about evaluation as well as exercise plan options along with your fitness instructor candidates. Be sure you choose a fitness trainer that will spend some time to learn everything to know about you. This specific assessment will include measurements of your respective present level of fitness as well as a talk of any limitations you have. If your first appointment is not entirely concerning the personal trainer understanding yourself, move on to the next candidate.
It is also vital that you be certain your own coach provide you with an itemized exercise program. Before you'll hit an understanding, be sure to have a clear thought of precisely what your individual trainer have planned for your personal health and fitness. Make sure you are ready to follow his / her advice. In case your fitness instructor thinks you should spend time inside a physical fitness bootcamp program, nevertheless, you don't have any purpose of doing this, the particular instructor isn't a good match for you personally.
Last but not least, before you employ a personal trainer, request for before and after pictures of clients and phone numbers of references. If you're armed with testimonials and photographic evidence of results with other customers, you will be on a stronger position to establish a final choice. In fact, would you get a used car based on the vendor's message that it is great? Obviously you would not. As your fitness trainer will be accountable for your overall health and also fitness, the decision has to be the best one.