No matter what time of year it is, bad weather happens. In the summer, some areas experience rain almost every day, and of course wintertime brings ice, snow, and freezing temperatures in many parts of the world.
And if you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, it’s wintertime right now.
In short, weather makes it difficult to get outside and walk or run as often as you should to build your bones.
Today’s post solves this dilemma, because you’ll discover how to reap the benefits of walking and running even in the worst weather conditions. How? You can walk or run indoors.
Why: Walking and running are one of the most efficient ways to build your bones. Both weight-bearing activities are beneficial to your overall health and you don’t need any special equipment to get started.
Plus walking and running improve mood, which is also important for strong bones. Depression has been linked to bone loss, and Savers are familiar with the bone-depleting effects of chronic stress and high cortisol levels.
Constant sitting is an increasing problem in our modern world, and regular walking and running offsets the effects of sedentary lifestyles.
Walking and running make excellent use of two simple elements: your body weight and gravity. These are two critical requirements to building bone density, as proven scientifically by Wolff’s law of bone formation, since the action of muscle and gravity on bone increases bone density.
In addition, today’s exercise strengthens your core muscles, quadriceps (the top muscles of your thighs), and the flexor muscles of the hip, reducing the risk of hip and femur fractures.
No special exercise equipment is required, and as you’ll see below, you can do this anywhere, anytime.
How: Make sure you’re wearing comfortable shoes that offer proper support.
Walking Indoors
- Stand near a chair or wall in case you need to catch your balance.
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart, arms bent in a “running” position.
- Raise one knee to hip height. At the same time, bring the opposite arm up toward your shoulder.
- Start at the speed that’s most comfortable for you, as if walking in place, but making sure you lift your legs up to your hips keeping the knee bent. This ensures you’re also strengthening your core muscles to support good posture and spinal alignment.
- Switch sides and repeat.
- Do 10 reps on each side for a set of 20.
- Rest for a few minutes and do another set of 20.
- Repeat this cycle for as many sets as you can.
Remember, it’s okay if you have to work up to this. It’s fine to start with 4 or 5 reps at a time for a set of 8 or 10.
Advanced Version: Running Indoors
- Begin as for walking indoors – feet hip-width apart, arms “pumped”, and standing near a wall or chair. Good shoes that absorb impact are especially important for this exercise.
- Follow the same pattern of raising one leg and pumping the opposite arm, but this time, jump a bit when you lift your knee and come down on the other leg, as if running in place.
- Because this is more challenging, you might want to begin with a set of 8 (4 on each side) until you get the hang of it.
- The goal is a set of 20 reps, 10 on each side, as with walking indoors.
This exercise requires little space, but it offers many rewards that go beyond building bone density. In fact, the Densercise™ Epidensity Training System is so called because it goes above and beyond building bone density (“epi” is a Greek word meaning “beyond”).
Savers will recognize the use of this prefix in relation to epigenetics, the study of gene expression within the genetic code itself. Amazingly, weight-bearing exercises have been shown to alter gene expression.
Even if your doctor told you that osteoporosis “runs” in your family, recent studies have shown that you can control whether those genes get switched “on” or “off” as long as you perform the right kind of exercises on a regular basis1.
And that's precisely what Densercise™ is designed to do — it flips the hidden “switch” that builds more bone with ease — and it's all based on the latest science.
In other words, you’re not “stuck” with osteoporosis because you can overcome a family tendency with regular exercise!
So if you’d like to really be in control of your bone health, make sure you get more details on the Densercise™ Epidensity Training System by clicking here.
As always, I’d love to hear from you. Please feel free to share your experience with this or other Weekend Challenges by leaving a comment below.
Enjoy your weekend!
1 Denham, J., et al. “Exercise: putting action into our epigenome.” Sports Medicine. 2014 Feb; 44(2): 189-209. Web. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24163284
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Thank you Vivian. My bone density ha improved over the years. Regards georgina
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Can you do the ‘walking’ exercise in bare feet?
Also do you have any exercises for osteopenic and osteoarthritic feet? -
Thank you so much for this visual exercise! Seeing the workout makes it more exciting to get started! I appreciate all your valuable information! You are a great source of hope to all of us with osteoporosis. God bless you in your marvelous contributions to living a healthier life.
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Good Afternoon Vivian,
Another Great Article, And Another Wonderful Exercise For Our Bones.
Thank You Very Much, For The WEEKEND CHALLENGE – TOTAL LOWER BODY BONE BUILDER.
Until Next Time – Take Good Care Of Yourself, And Stay Well.
LOVE, LESLIE (MS. L. CARMEL)
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Hello All, Tried this one yesterday altering just a bit due to my severe limitations but a really good one and as I gain more strength, will definitely proceed to full. I’m having a time of it at present working on HFP and my poor ribs are sore most of the time. If anyone has the same problem, keep on going and it will get better. I am but very slowly due to doctors who fed me poison for over 3yrs. without my knowledge of “full impact on bones. Sneaky lot… Saw a tv segment a couple of days ago which a man stated that “Doctors are the new drug pushers of this century”.. I believe that to be true and very sad for us all. Enjoy what’s left of this weekend and push on, that’s what we need to do…
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Walking ,running and stretching is the key to build strong bones.A few months ago I was diagnos with sciatica nerve pain, I wasn’t able to do my daily activities.its been a couple weeks now since I started to walk,run ,stretch make a huge difference in my life,and i encourage everyone to do so.
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Hello Vivian,
I’m very blessed to received and continue learning
different types of exercises. Thank you very much
for sharing this exercise which is new to me and I will
include it especially, during winter time.
Have a wonderful day and take care always.
Marlene -
Dear fiend,
I am 65 and do yoga twice a week sponsored by an area yoga store and enjoy it very much. Recently I have a growin pain and further to an extray happen to have minor artritis of him joint. I was prescribed ALEVE counter bought medication. Altough my doctor recommended to stop my yoga but I refuse to stop it since I enjoy and find it beneficial in many ways. What’s your opinion?Thanks.
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Hi Rita,
My opinion is that you should continue making your own health decisions! No one knows your body like you do; if you find Yoga beneficial, then it’s your choice to continue. 🙂 I encourage you to take a look at Aleve – I address this drug and others like it in this post:https://saveourbones.com/dont-take-these-pain-killers-that-slow-down-bone-healing/
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I have an S.I. joint that has been separating many times a week because several months ago I strained it lifting. I cannot get it to heal. When it separates I cannot walk. My chiropracter keeps putting it back in place then I can walk again. There are so many things I can no longer do that seem to make the joint separate.. Any suggestions?
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Has anyone heard of Laminine? I recently met a woman on summer vacation that claims that it completely reversed her osteoporosis.
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Thanks so much for your program, Vivian. One question I’ve been meaning to ask you is, in your book you state that PABA should be avoided. I thought this was part of the B complete. I look forward to hearing from you. Janet
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I’ve been reading about the bone benefits of eating wakame seaweed. Besides being a good source of iodine, it has calcium and magnesium. It’s used in soups and salads.
There’s a company in New Zealand that sells it. New Zealand still can boast about their pristine waters. Since Japan is still dealing with their nuclear accident, I won’t buy anything edible from that region.
I like to run in my pool back and forth or walk. Thanks Vivian for reminding me to do it.
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You’re welcome, Rosemary, and thank you for sharing your knowledge about eating seaweed. 🙂
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I love your new illustrations with motion. It makes it simple to understand the exercise.
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I have always thought that running was bad for your knees and hard on the hips especially for women, am I wrong?
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Please comment about the benefits of rebounding.
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Rebounding can be very beneficial, Carol – it’s low-impact and can certainly help develop balance, strength, and flexibility. 🙂
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I have some questions about the bone Cleanse program, but don’t know where to put them. I’ve got the supplements you recommend to take while doing the cleanse. What about other supplements I take for eyes(AMD) and extra B12 for neuropathy. Should I take a week off on these?
The recipes sound interesting. What about having chic peas once? I know they’re not raw, so wouldn’t be in a raw food meal.
Shirley C.
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LOVE the Weekend Challenges. Are they part of the Densercise Manuel?