Weekend Challenge: High-Impact Femoral Neck And Leg Builder

Vivian Goldschmidt, MA Exercise

Evidence-Based
6 min Read
weekend challenge

For this weekend’s challenge, you’ll want to put on your dancing shoes!

Actually, a good pair of athletic shoes will do just fine. But the hopping activity of this exercise feels like you’re dancing, and if you add music, it’s even more fun!

The High-Impact Femoral Neck and Leg Builder is a high-impact exercise, so it’s scientifically proven to build bone strength in your hips and legs. It also gets your heart pumping and your muscles working, and it increases endurance and improves coordination.

Pick your favorite upbeat music and get ready for this weekend’s challenge!

Why:

As mentioned above, this exercise targets your hips and legs, but it also specifically strengthens the femoral neck, which is the rather narrow bridge of bone that connects the head of the femur (thigh bone) to the femoral head (the “ball”) that fits into the hip socket. This strip of bone is a small but important part of the hip joint that holds particular relevance to those who’ve been diagnosed with osteoporosis.

You see, the femoral neck is uniquely vulnerable to weakening as a result of taking the most commonly prescribed osteoporosis drugs. Known as atypical femoral fractures, these painful breaks can occur any time the femoral neck is compromised, which is a debilitating (not to mention ironic) side effect of bisphosphonate drugs.

Long covered-up by Big Pharma and Mainstream Medicine, breakthrough research has proven this connection once and for all by showing exactly how bisphosphonates weaken bone on a cellular level.

These dangerous drugs, which include Fosamax (alendronate), Boniva (ibandronate) – to mention a few – interfere with bone remodeling, a fact that Savers are well aware of. By interfering directly and specifically with bone remodeling, bone micro damage does not get repaired, resulting in bones that are more susceptible to fracture. Thus, the inevitable, day-to-day wear and tear on bones keeps accumulating, weakening bones over time. This weakening affects all bones, but it manifests with particular prominence in the femoral neck.

For further reading on this eye-opening study, you’ll want to read this post: Alert: Never Published Study Uncovers How And Why Bisphosphonates Cause Atypical Fractures.

Weight-bearing exercises that target the hip joints, like this weekend’s, help the femoral neck to recover and strengthen, as normal bone remodeling resumes after treatment with bisphosphonates. High-impact exercises are especially helpful, as the next two studies illustrate.

More Research Proves The Bone-Building Aspects Of High-Impact Exercise

It’s exciting to learn that exercise can preserve the function of your legs and hips as you age. For many years, the opposite was thought to be the case – low-impact exercises such as swimming and stationary biking were considered best for bones, and those with low bone density were encouraged to “preserve” their bones and prevent deterioration by minimizing impact.

While low-impact forms of exercise have their own merits and benefits (and if you can’t do high-impact exercise, it’s far better to choose low-impact moves over no exercise at all), research points clearly to specific benefits of high-impact motions.

In the first study, researchers at the University of Bristol measured the pelvic bone density of teenaged girls between 13 and 19, and those whose daily activities involved the most high-impact exercise had the strongest, densest hip bones.1

A second study on older women between the ages of 25 and 50 showed that hopping was highly effective at increasing pelvic bone density. One group of women hopped at least 10 times twice per day with 30 seconds between each hop, and the other group hopped 20 times twice per day, also with 30-second intervals between hops.

Increases in participants’ hip bone density was observed just eight weeks into the study, with the 20-hop group exhibiting “significantly greater gains in hip BMD.” After 16 weeks, both groups showed similar improvement in bone mineral density of the hips.2

So if you’re able to jump and hop vigorously (with your doctor’s approval, of course), then you’re on to one of the most fun ways to build your bones. Now let’s take a look at how to do the High-Impact Femoral Neck And Leg Builder.

How:

It’s a good idea to warm up before doing this exercise. Try marching or jogging in place or doing jumping jacks for a few minutes to get your muscles warmed up. Or do this exercise at the end of your regular workout.

high impact femoral neck leg builder

  1. Hold your arms straight out at your sides.
  2. Kick your right leg out and hop twice on your left foot.
  3. Bring the right leg back and kick your left leg out, hopping twice on your right foot.
  4. Try to perform the kick and hop movements in one continuous motion without stopping to switch feet.
  5. Repeat the motion until you’ve done eight kicks and hops on each foot.
  6. Now do another eight kicks and hops on each foot, but this time, hop only once. So the motion will be much more rapid.

If you’re just getting the hang of this or you’re tired out after Step 5, then feel free to skip Step 6 for now and work up to it. You may also like to add these two other challenges:

The Dynamic Hip And Core Builder
High Impact Axial Loader

More Than Just The Femoral Neck

Remember, in addition to the femoral neck, all of the bones and joints in the legs get a workout in this weekend’s move. The dance-like motions also promote coordination and balance, so you’ll be much less likely to sustain a fall that could result in a broken bone.

You’ll find plenty of weight-bearing exercises in the Densercise™ Epidensity Training System. The 50+ exercises in Densercise™ are not the same as the Weekend Challenges, but they complement each other nicely. It’s always good to add variety!

Take Exercising For Your Bones to the Next Level!

densercise product

Learn the 52 exercise moves that jumpstart bone-building – all backed by the latest in epigenetics research.

Learn More Now →

I hope you enjoyed this weekend’s challenge, and as always, feel free to comment about your experience below!

Enjoy the weekend!

vivian sig

References:

1 Tobias, Jonathan, et al. “Physical Activity and Bone: May the Force be with You.” Frontiers in Endocrinology. 5. 20. (2014). Web. March 16, 2017. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3939444/

2 Tucker, L.A., et al. “Effect of two jumping programs on hip bone mineral density in premenopausal women: a randomized controlled trial.” Am J Health Promot. 29. 3. (2015): 158-64. Web. March 16, 2017. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24460005