Challenge #1
What: Park your car as far away as possible from your destination for one whole day.
Why: Today is the beginning of the first “regular” week after the holidays, so we all need to increase our weight-bearing activities to add more punch to our bone-building endeavors. A great way to do this is to take advantage of each and every opportunity that presents itself, such as the daily errands and other activities.
How: Whether you’re going to work or to stock up on groceries, pick the parking spot farthest from where you’re headed to. Make sure you wear comfortable shoes so you can keep good pace. Remember to keep your back straight, relax your arms, breathe… and smile!
Challenge #2
What: Practice the Side Lunge move, which is part of the Densercise System, at least once for the full 5 minutes, per the Density Method.
Why: The Side Lunge is an effective weight bearing exercise that builds density in two of the most crucial bones: the femur and the hips. As a part of the Densercise System, which is based on Wolff’s Law of Bone Formation to increase bone density, this move also targets the following muscles: thighs, hips and glutei.
While this challenge is just to do one exercise, the complete Densercise System walks you through a complete 4 week exercise schedule that only takes 15 minutes each day, just 3 days a week. Every day has different moves, so you never get bored with the same old routine. Weight bearing, resistance and flexibility moves are clearly explained. Plus it includes the Densercise Online Video Collection where I personally demonstrate each and every move.
If you haven’t yet, I urge you to check out the Densercise System. It’s an excellent complement to the Osteoporosis Reversal Program
How:
Side Lunge
Stand with feet together. Take a large step to the side with right leg, moving the hands in front of and parallel to the chest.
Keep the left leg planted. Bend right knee over the ankle, never extended over the foot.
The movement will force you to bend at waist and push the backside out, so be sure to keep a straight spine. Hold for three seconds, squeezing the glutei, and return to original position.
Do 6 repetitions, resting for at least 10 seconds, and switch sides.
Repeat this pattern until the 5 minutes are up.
I hope you’ll do this challenge really soon. Let me know how you did by leaving a comment below.
And remember, live each day with zest!
What exercise is safe for my spine??? I have severe osteoporosis
In the lumbar spine and I am afraid if doing wrong moves and ecercise
Thank you very much
Hi Hildegard,
Do you have a trusted physical therapist or doctor who is familiar with your individual healthy history and current condition? If so, that’s the person to check with before beginning any exercise. 🙂
Yes, I did the exercise. I am determined to keep going. Whatever you put on the “screen” — I will do it! Thanks! Maurine
HI Vivian,
Excellent program – I have been doing many of your recommendaions already.
Why do you not recommend strontium for strong bones?
Janice
Hi Janice – To find out why I don’t recommend supplemental strontium, please read Strontium Demystified 🙂
INNO-CAL-MAG
Each 4 softgels contains:
Calcium Elemental (citrate/carbonate/phosphate) – 1000 mg
Magnesium Elemental (oxide/citrate) – 500 mg
Phosphorus (calcium phosphate) – 250 mg
Zinc Elemental (glycinate) – 5 mg
Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) – 200 IU
Vitamin C (calcium ascorbate) – 60 mg
In a base of Omega-6 Essential Fatty Acids: Sunflower Oil, Flaxseed Oil and Evening Primrose Oil.
Non-medicinal ingredients: gelatin, glycerin, purified water, soy lecithin, beeswax.
Is this a good source of calcium to take
Thank you for your side lung excercise. First, I coun’t do it, when I bend my right keen, my left leg coun’t go straight. But after I make a practice several times, I hardly can do it. HOpping later I can do it easily
Hi Vivian and Happy New Year.
Thank you for all the great info sent throughout the year. Everything is always so helpful and the program has helped me gain much progress in keeping my bone health stablized.
Blessings to all for a great success in 2012.
I have just purchased the densercise manual, but the accompanying online video link has disappeared from my uinbox for some reason – could you please resent the link or tell me how to access the exercise videos.
By the way thank you for all the help and advice!
anne alborough
Hi all, Try swansons vitamins online in US for Aquamins which is a algae form of calcium.
Hi! Vivian,
Thank You VERY MUCH As Always For Sending Us GREAT ARTICLES, And SHOWING US GREAT EXERCISES TO HELP SAVE OUR BONES.
Hope You And Your Family Had A Wonderful Holiday Season. And May You All Have A Healthy, Safe, Wonderful, Prosperous, And Just A Very Very—
“HAPPY NEW YEAR”!
LOVE, LESLIE (MS. L.)
Online video collection? You don’t have a video to play? DVD? Exercising or trying to, in front of a computer, is rather awkward.
Hi Robinette – The Online Video Collection is a supplemental bonus for the Densercise System. In it, Vivian gives you a brief demo of each exercise. The videos are not stand-alone exercise videos and are intended to be used in conjunction with the Densercise manual, which contains all of the information and instructions.
Thanks for this version of a side lunge. I am still in good health taking nothing but CoQ-10 50 mg with 5 mg of E. Wal-mart where I was finding this stopped carring it. Went to GNC and thought I had but it lacks the E. Found another place with the 5 mg of E but 60 mg of CoQ-10. Still checking as i have good supply yet. I have not done well with calcium but was talking with a supplier. She carries brand called NOW. I am trying a vitamin D-3 & K-2 which seem to agree with me. D-3 alone did not agree with nor did caltrate. It also suggest trying a NOW Calcium supplement. Will see how this goes for a while as I feel I do need some calcium but time will tell. She suggest that I would have to have the test. I told her I did the foot and one full scan and will do no more. I agree with you that the scan are not that good. I told her I will know if it works or not as my body is not use to stuff and since I do not take anything other then what I mentioned I feel sure I will know. So far so good. I read all she had and went on line and now it is just a wait and see if these agree with me. I am sure come may if they are working for me the doctor will be glad for me. He said maybe I just cannot not take them as they do not agree with me. I still kept looking so maybe this will be the brand and combination. Wishing everyone a happy and healthy new year. Thank you.
This side lunge exercise looks really good, and easy to do. Thanks, Shula
Do you have a comment about the acid/alkaline value of store bought spaghetti sauce? Too much sugar?
It depends, Doug — you’ll have to look at the ingredients. There are lots of good “store bought” spaghetti sauces, especially organic, that don’t contain added sugar. But yes, if there’s added sugar or other acidifying ingredients, that would make the sauce more acidifying.
In 2008 and 2010 I had a herniated disk and sciatica.I took a lot of medications, steroid injections for pain and bought a magnetic mattress.I got better.Last week I shoveled the sidewalk after a fairly heavy snowfall and I got a sharp pain in my back similar to what I had had with my herniated disk.I was wondering why this came back?Does it mean my disk is in a position that will cause it to slip out easily?I was taking fosimax for about 10 years(I stopped taking it).Do you think this has weakened my bones?
I bought your book.Thank you.
I went on the internet and found a new calcium product EZORB (EZorbCalcium.com. Please check it out and tell me if it is okay, since I won’t be taking any more Zometa, it has a 92 per cent
absorption rate according to the ad.
I am 66 and I have been taking Ezorb for 10 years..My nails use to crack,split and I have beautiful nails now.. I order 18 bottles for a discount and I share them with my daughter..I’m sure it is helping my bones too…I hope so!!! It helps my Fibro. too..
Cannot do the Side Lunge…so much pain in my knees…especially the right knee. Just can’t do it. Much pain in left foot(bunion, big toe & under the toe…ball of foot). Any other suggestions?
Thank you..God Bless you & Have a Healthy New Year.
Hi Catherine – If this is causing intense pain in your knees and/or feet, please check with your doctor or a physical therapist.
Have a grand son (age 8) needing to grow bone length in one leg (with his third fixator).
What information can you mention and recommend for his parents to read to get him
ready to start his third fixator event (that his doctors will approve )?
I’m sorry, Byrd, but this is outside my area of research. If you are looking for natural solutions, you might consult a local naturopath or other holistic health practitioner.
I am 61 years young and have a T score of about -2.8 to -2.5 in hips, neck, and spine. the Dr. has started me on Forteo, and I am very uneasy about this. Since my bones are so fragile, could I build bone with just exercise. After a year of exercising, I did not lose any bone mass but I didn’t gain any either. What are my choices? Help! thank you
While exercise is important, Carol Lynn, it is not the sole answer. The Osteoporosis Reversal Program addresses diet, supplementation, and lifestyle, as well as exercise. You can get more information at https://saveourbones.com/program
Hi, I was in the same situation once. I ordered Vivian’s book and followed her guidelines re alkaline diet.
I ditched Actonel against my doc’s advice, which had not helped me anyway. I also switched to organic calcium (algae). I had always exercised and continued with walking, swimming and dumbbells. Within two years my dexa scan showed an incredible improvement – from ‘moderate to high’ fracture risk to ‘mild’ risk.
It’s worth a try!
Cheers from Australia and best of luck!
Trudy
Happy New Year Vivian,
Commening on the inorganic calcium above. I too had no success finding one without strontium. However, the one i take is called New Chapter and each tablet contains 256.7 mg calcium from algae PLUS STRONTIUM FROM ALGAE 1.7 mg. I would like your opinion on this.
Thank you
Sheila
Happy New Year!
Is there a concern with strontium? I also take New Chapter calcium. Thank you!
Hi Ann – There’s no concern with the small amount of naturally-occurring strontium in your supplement. Please see my response to Lynn below.
Sheila, please see my response to Lynn below.
This is good. I like the pictures (each worth 1000 words), and having something arrive each day gets me moving.
I’m a bus-crash graduate with mobility problems, including walking and balance. I have to ask my physio for help on this one next week, I realise. Meantime, what do you mean
1. “Bend right knee over the ankle, never extended over the foot.”?
2. should one take a large step to the side, is there any benefit in that step (painful for me), or can I just leave the feet apart in between lunges?
3. “bend at waist and push the backside out, so … keep a straight spine.” Bend and straight don’t go together. ???
Thanks, Bracha.
Hi Happy New Year everyone. I hope Vivian doesn’t mind me trying to help Bracha Yarden but if you think of things as 90 degree angles, then your ankle should be at 90 degrees then your shin goes straight up to your knee then your knee bends at 90 degrees, it’s like you’re just going to sit back on a chair, then just fold from the hips without bending your back and that keeps the spine straight. I do Pilates twice a week and this is part of it and I would strongly recommend it to anyone who has balance problems.
Hi Bracha – Hazel’s explanation is correct. The reason for not extending your knees past your toes is to avoid putting undue pressure on your knees. And yes, it’s always appropriate to make modifications, especially if an exercise causes you pain. As far as the seeming contradiction between bending and keeping a straight spine – what you want to do is bend from the hip rather than curling from your waist or lower back. Keeping your spine straight as you bend from the hip (which will occur naturally as you bend your knee and push your backside out) will protect your back. 🙂
Vivian, I think the confusion here is about not “extending the knee over the foot”? Probably better to instruct “not to push the knee over the foot” since “extending” a joint means “staightening” that joint. Here on the Lunge the knee joint is Flexed.
Also: after”keep a straight back”,ADD: “bending at the hips,instead of the waist.”
Maybe this will clarify instructions since full pictures not seen as in Video. Noted by: GWM,MD
Happy New Year, Vivian,
May add my plea to that of LynnCS above. I too have had no success in tracking down an inorganic Calcium/Magnesium supplement without Strontium that meets your criteria. I live in England and my local “Vegetare” Shop informed me that he was not allowed to sell any inorganic Calcium supplements. No help from GP either!
Any help from yourself or from any one of our group in the UK would be most appreciated.
Rita Black UK
Rita, please see my response to Lynn below. (I assume you’re referring to organic calcium, not inorganic – organic calcium contains some naturally-occurring strontium; inorganic calcium doesn’t)
Hello Rita,
I live in Scotland and I Googled AlgaeCal Plus and sent for this to the U.S.
It’s very difficult to find decent supplements in the U.K. so look further afield.
All the Best to you.
Carole
I ordered AlgaeCal Plus from Norfolk (England) after searching online. I don’t suppose I’m allowed to name the company here.
Bionetics. I’m sure Vivian won’t mind us sharing this resource.
Hi Rita,
Sorry but I sent for the AlgaeCal Plus to Canada, it’s other stuff I send to America for!
Carole
I’ve got wonky knees, too, but I’ll try this one after checking with my physio. I pinched the fat pad (Hoffa’s Syndrome) in my right knee at the end of last June and was told it would take at least 6 months to recover. Annoying, but true, as I’m nearly there now and I don’t want to undo all the good work by trying this exercise too early.
your advise is very usefull
Thanks
Unfortunately I have wonky knees so I have to be very careful doing this.
I can manage it though. I was advised by one Orthopaedic surgeon to have bilateral total knee replacements. I then went for a second opinion and was told I still have mileage on them knees! I went with the second opinion and continue with excercises.
Hi Vivian…I do park far away from the store and walk. That is something I didn’t used to do, so I guess I am making progress. I like your exercises too and am getting better at doing them. I do have a big problem, though. After all this time, I still am unable to find a calcium/mag etc. supplement that meets your criteria. I have searched the internet for a supplement that is algae based without Strontium. I cannot find any in spite that I have gone to the sites you recommended. Can you help me further?
Hi Lynn – You’re right that most organic calcium products contain strontium, but the small amount of naturally-occurring strontium in organic calcium is not a problem – what I don’t recommend is taking additional supplemental strontium in much higher doses. For an explanation and more information, please read Strontium Demystified