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Best Exercises to Prevent Osteoporosis

/12 January 2024/ All MFN blog/

Osteoporosis is a disease that affects our bone system due to a decrease in bone mass, density and an increase in the space between the bones. As a result, one’s bones become brittle and suspect to breaking. There are two types of osteoporosis: type 1 and type 2. Type 1 is generally a result of the aging process and a decrease in hormones such as estrogen and progesterone. These hormones help regulate how fast bone is lost. Type 2 is a result of medications or other health issues that interfere with bone reformation. Thankfully, both types are treatable!

Most Common Areas Affected: Osteoporosis is generally found in the neck of the thigh and lower back.  A lot occurs in these areas, so, a decrease in the strength of the bone there is not a good thing.

Nutrition: Since nutrition plays a factor in everything we do, it is important to mention it for those with osteoporosis. The three things to focus on the most are: an increase in calcium, and a stoppage of alcohol intake and smoking.

Exercises: Research shows that it takes about six months of consistent exercise at somewhat high intensities to produce enough bone mass change. With that being said, it is important to use proper exercises in a progressive fashion and make them specific to you.  Exercises should focus on the following areas of the body as they stress the overall bone structure: core, hips, thighs, back and arms. Here are my top six exercises to start your 6-month program:

Planks: 1-3 sets of 8-20 reps

planks

Supine Bridges: 1-3 sets of 8-20 reps
supinebridge

Prone Cobras: 1-3 sets of 8-20 reps
cobra

Squats: 1-3 sets, 8-20 reps
squats

Standing Tube Row: 1-3 sets, 8-20 reps
tuberow

Single leg balance: 1-3 sets, 8-20 reps
singlelegbalance

Conclusion

While osteoporosis can be a life threatening disease, it can be managed through exercise. Most people who include daily exercise are able to ward off further damage to their body and are able to do their normal daily activities of life. Performing the six exercises listed and then progressing to more challenging ones will keep a person with osteoporosis healthy!

Maurice D. Williams is a personal trainer and owner of Move Well Fitness in Bethesda, MD. With almost two deciades in the industry, he’s worked with a wide range of clients, including those with health challenges like diabetes, osteoporosis, multiple sclerosis, hypertension, coronary artery disease, lower back pain, pulmonary issues, and pregnancy. Maurice is also a fitness educator with Move Well Fit Academy and NASM.  

trainer-and-senior-male-client

Men: Let’s Take Back our Health! Five Simple Steps to Be Healthier Right Now!

/18 August 2023/ All MFN blog, Conditions/

It is no secret that we, as men, have failed miserably when it comes to our health. According to The Men’s Health Network (MHN), we die at higher rates than women from the following top 10 causes of death: heart disease, cancer, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, accidents, pneumonia and influenza, diabetes, suicide, kidney disease, and chronic liver disease and cirrhosis. If you examine the list above closely, you will notice that most of them are preventable

Muscles-of-the-Abdomen

The QL: The Forgotten Core Muscle

/5 April 2023/ All MFN blog/

When one thinks of their core, I doubt the quadratus lumborum (QL) comes to mind. The average person in the gym is not walking around saying: “I’m going to work hard on my QL today!” Despite that the fact that most don’t work on it or may never have heard of it, the QL is an important muscle and should be included in a person’s fitness programming.

foam-rolling

Foam Rolling: The What, Why & How

/11 January 2023/ All MFN blog/

We are not as active as we once were. Our lifestyles today do not require as much movement as it once did. A perfect example of this is Giant’s Peapod (need I say anymore).  Not being active takes a toil on our bodies and sitting tends to take over our bodies main position in space. For those that are active, injuries may still occur. When a person is not active and does a lot of sitting (or sleeping in awkward positions) or when a person is active and gets injured, our bodies respond by putting our muscle tissues into overdrive. In other words, they end up working harder than they should which leads to adhesions or knots in the fascia (connective tissue found throughout our entire body). This is where foam rolling can be very helpful.

What is Foam Rolling?

Foam rolling is the concept of applying pressure to a sore or tender muscle that will send a signal to your brain to tell it to relax. If you are familiar with a massage, then, you can think of foam rolling as a self-massage.

Why Foam Rolling?

According to the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), foam rolling is beneficial to help alleviate and correct discomfort.  For example, if a person does a lot of sitting, then most likely their hip muscles will be working overtime. Foam rolling will help the hip muscles to return to a normal state of work.  Also, since overworking muscles cause your body to compensate and have poor posture, foam rolling can help to correct bad posture too.

How Do You Foam Roll?

In order to determine what muscles on your body are working overtime, you want to consult with a corrective exercise specialist. This could be a physical therapist, personal trainer or massage therapist (to name a few). They can watch your posture and how you move to determine which muscles need foam rolling. Typical muscles that need foam rolling include one’s: calves, hips, lateral to mid-back, thighs and chest. For example, if one determines their calf muscle is working overtime, the protocol would be to sit down on their butt with the foam roller placed directly underneath their calf muscles.  The person would apply pressure by pushing their calf muscle only into the foam roller. If they feel any discomfort, they would hold that spot of discomfort for at least 30 seconds to allow the calf to relax.  If a person does foam rolling on a regular basis (I recommend 3-5 times/week for four weeks), they could accomplish significant improvement to their posture, which means less discomfort to their body.

Conclusion

Foam rolling is a proven technique that allows overactive muscles throughout our bodies to return to a state of normalcy. If you have muscles on your body that do not feel normal, foam rolling may be the solution to your problem.

Maurice D. Williams is an Assistant Professor of Health & Human Performance at Freed-Hardeman University, an the owner of Move Well Fitness. With almost two decades in the industry, he’s worked with a wide range of clients, including those with health challenges like diabetes, osteoporosis, multiple sclerosis, hypertension, coronary artery disease, lower back pain, pulmonary issues, and pregnancy.

success-go-get-it

Five Steps for Leveling Up Your Mindset

/24 August 2022/ All MFN blog/

The perspective from which I want to discuss this topic today has to do with cultivating a mindset that actually allows you to reach your goals.

It’s easy to get fed up with your current situation – whether it be weight, a job, finances, a relationship or otherwise – and say to yourself “I’m done! Things are about to change!”

But then they don’t.

Senior-Weight-Training

Fight Muscle Loss Now!

/25 April 2022/ All MFN blog/

When you think of a typical older person, one thing likely comes to mind: frailty. Even if you can’t really identify any obvious illness, there is something about most elderly people that communicates frailty and weakness. They probably walk slowly, move carefully and let others do many things for them, rather than doing those things themselves.

What is it?

It’s muscle loss, otherwise known as sarcopenia. And if you are 25 years old or older, it is happening to you already. But you don’t have to take it sitting down. (Pun intended.)

What is sarcopenia?

Sarcopenia refers to the process of losing skeletal muscle mass and strength. “Sarco” is the Greek word referring to flesh, and “penia” means a reduction in amount. Thus, the word describes a progressive weakening of the body caused by a “change in body compensation in favor of fat and at the expense of muscle.” (1)

Everyone, beginning around age 25, starts to lose muscle mass, though the actual symptoms of this loss do not usually begin showing up until around the age of 40 or so. The process begins really picking up speed after the age of 65. In fact, around the age of 40, most women will lose almost a half-pound of muscle every year and replace it with fat. (2)

The result of this gradual loss of muscle is an insidious weakening of the body, loss of balance, loss of confidence upon walking, and a reduced ability to recover from near falls. As we lose strength, we become more inactive. This makes sense, because if we have less muscle, it takes much more effort to move, and we fatigue more easily. But also, with loss of strength comes loss of balance and stability. The fear of falling keeps many people sedentary. And a sedentary lifestyle opens the door for chronic illness.

Take back your muscle

And now for great news: you can delay sarcopenia and even reverse it. How? By lifting weights. Even though you cannot grow new muscles cells to replace the ones you have already lost, you can develop the ones that you have left. In fact, you can become stronger than you ever have in your life by simply beginning a strength training program.

No matter how old you are, it is not too late to start. Even patients in nursing homes have seen transformation. After strength training, bedridden patients were able to begin walking with walkers, walker-dependent patients graduated to canes, and so on. (3)

And no matter how young you are, it is not too early to start! By starting early, you can significantly delay the effects of sarcopenia.

As you begin lifting weights, you will notice a transformation in your body. You will have more energy, you will perform everyday tasks with noticeably more ease and your clothes will begin sagging on you, because you will be building muscle and burning up the fat deposits. You will have greater balance and more confidence.

And perhaps best of all is the insurance policy you pay premiums on every time you choose to lift, because you are laying a strong, solid foundation for your later years. You are laying up health, independence and the ability to live well, not just long.

Don’t let another day go by that you are losing muscle. Fight muscle loss now. Take it back, and get ready to feel better than you ever have!

Maurice D. Williams is a personal trainer and owner of Move Well Fitness and Assistant Professor of Health & Human Performance at Freed-Hardeman University. With almost two decades in the industry, he’s worked with a wide range of clients, including those with health challenges like diabetes, osteoporosis, multiple sclerosis, hypertension, coronary artery disease, lower back pain, pulmonary issues, and pregnancy.

 

References

  1. Biomarkers by William Evans Ph.D. and Irwin Rosenberg M.D. Page 23.
  2. Strong Women Stay Young by Miriam E. Nelson Ph.D. Page 22.
  3. Younger Next Year for Women by Chris Crowley and Harry S. Lodge M.D. Page 178
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Why Fitness Professionals Should Join the MedFit Network

/19 August 2021/ All MFN blog/

It is safe to assume that not everyone a fitness professional works with is injury- or disease-free. As a fitness professional, it is your responsibility to ensure that you provide your clientele with safe and effective programming. The question you have to ask yourself is: are you truly qualified and up to date on the latest information to work with your current (and future) clientele? A second question to ask is: are you marketing yourself to those who need you most in this healthcare crisis? If you’re honest, you should at least say that perhaps you are not.

Well, this is where the MedFit Network (MFN) can help! The MFN is both a professional membership organization for fitness and allied healthcare professionals and a free online resource directory for the community to locate professionals with a background in prevention, treatment and rehabilitation in working with those with chronic disease or medical conditions.

As a fitness professional, here’s why you should join the MedFit Network.

1: Raising Fitness Professional Standards 

MFN is dedicated to making sure fitness professionals are highly educated and prepared to work with any medical issue. The name given for this person is a Medical Fitness Specialist (MFS). The MFS helps make the transition from medical management and/or physical therapy to a regular physical activity program following a surgery, an injury, a medical diagnosis or exacerbation of a pre-existing condition. They also possess the training and skills to work with medical conditions like obesity, diabetes, hypertension, neuromuscular disorders and heart disease. So, a medical fitness practitioner is not just a personal trainer but includes wellness- and health-related disciplines such as chiropractors, massage therapists, physical therapists, nutritionists, etc.

2: Continuing Education

The MedFit Education Foundation (MFEF) is the nonprofit partner of the MedFit Network. MFEF is dedicated to elevating the quality and amount of available education for the medical fitness professional and the entire fitness and wellness community through their learning website, MedFit Classroom. For example, there is a Multiple Sclerosis Fitness Specialist and Drug and Alcohol Recovery Fitness Specialist course that are both one-of-a-kind. Continuing education is required for all their specialty courses. This is typically not the case. It is usually continuing education only for your certification. All of their continuing education courses are approved by a medical advisory board of some of the brightest professionals in the nation. MFEF also facilitates weekly educational webinars that are included with your MFN membership. These webinars are presented weekly by industry experts on such topics as medical fitness and active aging.

The MFN is an organization filled with people from all walks of the wellness professional spectrum. For example, they have MDs, PTs, chiropractors, dieticians, fitness and massage therapists to name a few. As a result, opportunities to network are endless. Because of this, current members have developed their own educational courses and even started their own blogs. Also, members have been able to designate their facility as medical fitness facilities by working with a member who specializes in helping people achieve this status.

The MedFit Network is a unique organization dedicated to improving the standards of the fitness and allied healthcare professionals. The ability for the diseased community to go to a directory of qualified medical fitness professionals is something unheard of anywhere else. The three reasons given are just the tip of the iceberg as to why you should be a part of this movement, the MFN!

Click to learn more about joining the MedFit Network as a professional member.

Maurice Williams offers a rare combination of advanced academic training, personal experience as a competitive athlete, entrepreneur skills and 22 years of experience in personal fitness and training. He has a BS in Exercise/Sport Science from Elon College (Now Elon University) and an MS in Clinical Exercise Physiology from Ohio University. Maurice is also a long-time MedFit Network member.