This weekend’s exercise improves your balance and builds the bones and muscles in your legs, arms, and feet.
You’ll need to stand on one foot throughout the exercise, which really works the muscle groups for balance and stability, especially the core muscles.
Better balance and targeted bone-building are not the only benefit of this move. A just-published study shows that a specific type of exercise improves sleep quality in middle-aged women – proving once again that the rewards of exercise are manifold.
Let’s start with a closer look at the muscles and bones involved in the Dynamic Balance Improver.
Why:
The essence of balance is to coordinate the muscles of your core, legs, feet, and arms. If you lift one foot off the ground, for instance, you’ll feel your ankle and foot wobble a bit and your abdominal muscles tighten as your brain sends signals to the various muscles to pull this way or that to keep you upright. Your arms are involved, too – one of the first things we do when we’re off balance is put our arms out to correct our body’s tilt.
Today’s exercise targets muscles in these key areas, including (but not limited to) the following muscle groups.
- Core muscles are located in your hips, abdomen, and lower back. This central group of muscles includes:
- Pelvic floor muscles
- Transversus abdominis (abdominal muscle)
- Internal and External Obliques (muscles along your sides and abdomen)
- Rectus abdominis (abdominal muscle)
- Erector spinae (deep back muscles)
- Diaphragm
- Latissimus dorsi (lats)
- Trapezius (shoulder and upper back muscle)
- Gluteus maximus (buttocks)
As you can see, today’s exercise covers a lot of ground! That’s because balance involves most of the body. All of the above muscle groups work together to hold you upright, but working these muscles also increases density in the bones they’re attached to (as per Wolff’s Law).
These are the main bones targeted in the Dynamic Balance Improver:
- Femur (thigh bone)
- Humerus (upper arm bone)
- Acromion and coracoid process (shoulder bones)
- Tibia (bone in the front of the lower leg that joins with the top of the ankle)
- Fibula (lies behind the tibia)
- Metatarsals (bones of the foot)
- Talus and other bones that make up the ankle joint
- Cuneiform and Cuboid bones in the arch of the foot.
- Pelvis
- Lumbar and Sacral Vertebrae (lower back)
How:
Grab a small dumbbell, a can of food, or a bottle to use as a hand weight. Stand near a bed, wall, or chair to catch yourself in case you lose your balance.
- Stand while holding a weight in one hand at around shoulder height, so your arms are bent at an approximate 45 degree angle.
- Bend your knee to lift the leg opposite to the hand holding the weight (if you have the weight in your right hand, lift your left leg, for example). You don’t have to lift your foot too high; eight inches to a foot off the floor is enough.
- Holding your leg up, lift the weight with your palm facing out.
- Stretch your arms upwards all the way to lift the weight over your head, as in a shoulder press. Then bring back to initial position.
- Repeat the weight lifting eight to 10 times (or as many as you comfortably can).
- Switch legs and hands and repeat.
I like to follow this exercise up with this other Weekend Challenge that also emphasizes balance. These exercises work well together because they tackle the same issue (balance), but from a different angle.
Of course, balance exercises are only part of the total exercise regimen you should be doing to build your bone density. It’s important to perform many types of exercise for maximum benefit, and now research reveals that the more “recreational” exercise you do, the better your sleep quality.
Brand-New Study Reveals New Insights Into How Exercise Improves Sleep
This fascinating study looked at three types of activities and how they affect sleep: active living, household/care giving, and sports/exercise. The latter would include elective exercises like those in the Densercise™ Epidensity Training System or the Weekend Challenges.
When researchers studied the sleep and exercise habits of 339 middle-aged women, they found that consistent sports and exercise were associated with greatly improved sleep quality – the women in this group slept more deeply and for longer, and had much lower diagnoses of insomnia. The same results were not noted in the other two groups.1
The study concludes:
“Consistently high levels of recreational physical activity, but not lifestyle- or household-related activity, are associated with better sleep in midlife women.”1
So what this study brings to light is that it’s not just being physically active that offers the greatest benefit; it’s the kind of physical activity you engage in. It also brings up the subject of sleep, something that is rarely discussed in the medical community in relation to osteoporosis. Yet sleep is actually crucial for bone health, because your bones do a great deal of remodeling and deposition of new bone while you sleep.
Unfortunately, it gets more difficult to get a good night’s sleep as we age. This makes it all the more important to engage in healthful exercise as you get older, so as to offset this tendency and increase your sleep quality.
Once again, science confirms the validity and importance of consistent exercise. The Osteoporosis Reversal Program has always known this, which is why the Densercise™ Epidensity Training System was created.
Never Fear A Fall!
Learn the 52 exercise moves that jumpstart bone-building – all backed by the latest in epigenetics research.
When you Densercise™ regularly, you’re improving your bone health and your sleep, all while enjoying improved cardiovascular health, increased energy, better mood, and all the manifold benefits of exercise.
As always, please feel free to leave a comment about today’s post.
Enjoy your weekend!
References:
1 Kline, Christopher E., PhD, et al. “Consistently High Sports/Exercise Activity Is Associated with Better Sleep Quality, Continuity and Depth in Midlife Women: The SWAN Sleep Study.” Sleep. November 2015. Vol. 36, iss. 9. Web. https://www.journalsleep.org/ViewAbstract.aspx?pid=29086
Comments on this article are closed.
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Hi Debra,
Please check your inbox for a message from Customer Support, where these issues are typically handled. 🙂
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Purchased your book “Save our Bones Program” some time back and have incorporated your advice into my diet. Had been on medication, Actonel, Fosamax, etc., for years with no improvement. Am now off medication and going to a gym working out with weights and am seeing an improvement in my bone density. I am 84 years old. Many thanks for your informative emails.
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I want to buy some of your books. I live in Ireland and need to find the Euro Prices. Cheers, Marion.
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Hi Marion,
Thanks for your interest in our products! You can get all the details on shipping costs here:https://saveourbones.com/mail/
Amounts are in U.S. dollars. After you click the Add to Cart button for the product you want to order, take a look at your subtotal at the bottom of the form. Next to the amount, there’s a Change Currency button, which you can click to convert the amount into your country’s currency.
If you prefer to do a currency conversion before you go to the order page, there are many free currency converters online. Just do a search for “currency converter” and choose one.
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It is heartening to see that so many people are benefitting from the advise and guidance given in your weekly challenges. This one is particularly interesting to me at the moment as I recently slipped on the lane with my right foot and went down, sitting on my left one. Unfortunately it has left me with a broken bone in my ankle and I am unable to do my usual daily walks. As soon as it is safe to do so, I will be using this exercise in order to regain the strength in all the muscles that are presently losing their tone and hopefully strengthen the others. Many thanks Vivian for sharing your knowledge and keeping us up-to-date.
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I’m so sorry to hear about your fracture, Josephine! I wish you a speedy recovery and a rapid return to your usual walking routine.
You may be interested to know that to enhance fracture healing, it’s important to make sure that sufficient bone and collagen building minerals are available, such as calcium, magnesium, zinc, boron, manganese, and copper. Vitamin K and D3 are also very important, as well as B12 (preferably taken with the rest of the B complex) and Vitamin C. Also, some antioxidants (lycopene and polyphenols) help build new bone. Maintaining an alkaline body pH is also very important. All these recommendations are also applicable to the prevention and reversal of bone loss.
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Thanks Vivian; great exercise. Did you get my message that my bone density has improved 8.6% in my spine and 4% in my hip. I have never taken the medication for osteoporoses thanks to you and my chemist. I have followed you information and exercises. I will be 84 this month. I take a calcium Lifestream (organic – red algae), turmeric, lots of spinach and rocket, lately I’m taking vitamin K2. I am so excited about my improvement . Blessings.
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Kelsey, that’s incredible news! Thank you for sharing and inspiring others. 🙂
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I take calcium citrate / Costo / Kirkland brand.. 2 a day.
Is this a safe calcium to take? -
Wow! This exercise will be a challenge and help for people like me who have ms and have balancing issues. Thanks much for your column/exercises.
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You are most welcome, Denna and Elle. It sounds like this exercise is a good fit for both of you. 🙂
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I also have MS and LOVE this exercise!!
Thanks Vivian…
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PLEASE UNSUBSCRIBE ME .THANK YOU.
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Hi Charlotte,
We are sorry, only you can unsubscribe yourself – but it’s very easy!
Simply scroll down to the very bottom of any of Vivian’s emails, and you’ll see the following message:
“Change Subscriber Options” (there is a blue link there that you click on and it will take you to the unsubscribe page).
If you have any trouble, please send us a message to Customer Support, and we’ll be glad to help you out. 🙂
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I will add my voice to the many I’m sure you’ve gotten, to say thank you, thank you for your website information. I was diagnosed as “osteoporosis” over a year ago, started meds, but then got nervous about all the negative side effects I’ve heard. Fortunately found your website in my search for information. I was “STRONGLY” encouraged to take an injectable medication (costing over $200 a month), but I resisted, I at least wanted to take a year to see if I could improve my number. And guess what, I DID. I went from a T-score of -2.5 to -1.2. WOW!
And I won’t say that I even did every single thing the program suggested, just incorporated the plant based calcium and supplements suggested, upped my yoga and weight bearing, using some of the weekend challenge exercises you have suggested, continued a balanced diet (but not perfect) with lots of fruit and veg. My density numbers improved very drastically. For every section of my spine they tested except for my L3 vertebrae. Which brings me to my question:
Given my overall improvement, I wonder if there is a way to target a specific section or area? My L3 remains at a -3.2, which was the most worrisome number to begin with out of the total results summary.
Any advice for my situation? Again, I can hardly express my gratitude and have shared your website with several others.
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How inspiring, Cindy! It’s heartwarming to hear your story of bone health improvement.
As far as exercises that target the lower back, it’s important to keep the proper arch in the lumbar vertebrae to prevent compression fractures and injury. Here are some Weekend Challenges that address the lower back:
https://saveourbones.com/weekend-challenge-spine-and-lower-back-protector/
https://saveourbones.com/weekend-challenge-hip-flexor-strengthener/
https://saveourbones.com/weekend-challenge-the-fhp-and-pelvic-tilt-corrector/
And keep up the great work!
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This one looks super! Will definitely try it. Am sure I will add it to my exeraise routine.
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Let us know how it goes, Sondra!
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I quite agree exercise and balance are very important. I’m pretty luck as I’m a very sound sleeper.
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That’s great that you sleep soundly. Your bones will thank you. 🙂
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I am a little confused about how to do the Osteo-Cleanse. If you eat the products in the second chapter, are they cooked or raw or does it matter? I understand that the third chapter calls for only raw food, but not clear about the second chapter. Also if you choose certain foods from chapter two should you choose recipes in chapter three that contain different foods? Can someone help me or give me advice on how you did this cleanse.
Thanks
Debra