The Femoral Head Builder Plus is an effective exercise not only for the femoral head (the highest part of the thigh bone) but also the core, lower back, and thighs. Just like for all of the Weekend Challenges, you don’t need any special equipment to practice this exercise; it utilizes your own body weight to work the hip joints and abdominals.

Given the increased chance of a femoral head fracture due to osteoporosis drug use and, to a lesser extent, due to age, it’s vital to stimulate this area through targeted exercise.

So let’s begin!

Why:

Unfortunately, femoral neck fractures are increasing in incidence, particularly in the U.S. As a matter of fact, if all of North America is included, we have the highest femoral fracture rate in the world at 511 out of 100,000 women annually (201 per 100,000 for men).¹

Researchers have tried to pin down the cause of this increase, and they found that bisphosphonates such as Fosamax (alendronate) and Boniva (ibandronate) are, in large part, to blame. As discussed in a thorough, comprehensive review of recent data, bisphosphonates suppress normal bone turnover, allowing microdamage to accumulate and the risk of fractures to increase.¹

The femoral head is particularly vulnerable to this drug-induced damage, which is likely due to its unique structure and placement in the body. The femoral head is a relatively narrow, bridge-like bone that endures a lot of micro damage because it is located in the hip joint.

In the presence of bisphosphonates, the femoral head (and every other bone as well) can’t shed the damaged bone cells in order to replace them with new, healthy bone. This is normal bone remodeling, a process that pharmaceutical companies apparently misunderstand, as their drugs deliberately seek to stop this process to “increase density.”

Bisphosphonates may increase bone density, but the evidence is undeniable: they do so at the expense of bone quality.

How ironic that these drugs are prescribed to prevent fractures!

The truth is that bisphosphonates cripple bone health and raise the risk of atypical fractures. You can read the research explaining exactly why and how this happens on a cellular level here: Save Our Bones Alert: Never-Published Study Uncovers How And Why Bisphosphonates Cause Atypical Fractures.

But the good news is that you can do something about it. You can take charge of your bone health and nurture your bones and your body to reverse the damage caused by osteoporosis drugs. With exercises like this weekend’s challenge, combined with a pH-balanced, clinical nutrition plan as described step-by-step in the Osteoporosis Reversal Program, you’ll create a balanced body environment that will allow your bones to renew and rejuvenate.

So let’s get right to the description of this weekend’s exercise!

How:

You’ll be more comfortable doing this exercise if you have an exercise mat or a similar surface to lie on.

1. Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor.
2. Extend one leg upward at approximately a 45-degree angle. The knee of the extended leg should not be higher than the knee of the bent leg.
3. Raise your hips up into a bridge position, creating a straight line from the foot of your extended leg and your shoulders. Stabilize yourself if necessary with the heel that’s on the floor. Don’t push with your toes.
4. Lower yourself back down to the starting position and immediately go back up into the bridge position again.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 ten times if you are able. Feel free to increase or decrease the number of reps according to your comfort level.

Now if you’d like, follow up with these other Weekend Challenges:

In all of these exercises, you’ll be working the abdominals, glutes, hip flexors, and hamstrings. Specifically, the Femoral Head Builder Plus engages the gluteus maximus, minimus, and medius, and also the hip adductors in your inner thighs. Abdominal muscles worked include the rectus abdominus and the erector spinae, key muscles for stabilizing your spine and pelvis, and the obliques, which lie along your sides.

In this weekend’s exercise, your hip flexors and knee extensors (iliopsoas, sartorius, and quadriceps) get a workout, unlike traditional bridges where both feet remain flat on the floor.

That means your pelvis, spine, and thigh bones (femora) are receiving the muscle stimulation they need to increase in strength, density, and flexibility.

These are just some of the “pluses” in the Femoral Head Builder Plus!

There are many other pluses, too, not only in this particular exercise but in regular exercise in general. The benefits of an exercise routine are so numerous they’d take up dozens of articles to list them! Research continues to uncover ways in which exercise enhances your health, and that definitely includes your bone health.

The Densercise™ Epidensity Training System allows you to reap these benefits without a massive time commitment and in the comfort of your own home. Densercise™ only take 15 minutes per session, and only three sessions per week are required. That’s because the moves in Densercise™ are focused and targeted; they’re designed to strengthen fracture-prone areas and help reverse bone loss.

How did you like this weekend’s challenge? Have any of you incorporated the challenges into your Densercise™ routine? As always, I invite you to share your thoughts about today’s topic with the community by leaving a comment below.

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Have a great weekend!

References:

¹ Filipov, Orlin. “Epidemiology and Social Burden of the Femoral Neck Fractures.” Journal of IMAB. 2014. Vol. 20, issue 4. ISSN: 1312-773X.

² Saita, Yoshimoto, Ishijima, Muneaki, and Kaneko, Kazuo. “Atypical femoral fractures and bisphosphonate use: current evidence and clinical implications.” 6. 4. (2015): 185-193. Web. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4480549/