fookisan
Guest
(...) writes:
"I am a 53 year old female and my doctor has prescribed fosomax due to low bone density. Is there any alternative out ther to talking drugs to better my bones?"
V writes:
I prefer to work with natural methods instead of drugs and doctors. Doctors have their purpose, but many doctors are not healthy themselves, so how can they give away what they do not have? If you seek to live a life guided by doctors and drugs, at least seek out an older doctor that shows he or she practices good health habits themselves, then maybe you will have a chance. Why an old doctor? Because poor health habits show up with age and you can judge for yourself most of the time as to how the doctor walks the path he talks. Another test is to see if the doctor tells you anything along the lines as I do. If all they tell you is take drugs to fix your bones, then you know which direction they are coming from. Is your doctor about the real promotion of a balanced and healthily lifestyle or is he or she just about pushing the drugs of the pill companies and running up bills for the insurance companies?
A healthy, balanced diet with supplements of calcium such as bone meal or coral calcium, magnesium, vitamin D or sunlight exposure, can help build strong bones. But supplements and good nutrition can only offer the "potential" for healthy bones and never guarantee the delivery of more bone mass. It is no different from a person that wishes to get larger muscle mass and takes lots of supplements and eats tons of protein. They have the potential to increase muscle mass, but until they actually exercise the muscles and strain them the muscles will not grow just to getting lot of supplements and protein. Without the good nutrition the bones will definitely not grow due to lack of fuel, but with the combination of weight bearing exercises coupled with the proper nutrition and supplements we can see positive growth with our muscles as well as out bones. This is an important area that is often neglected by women. Middle age women as a group need weight training the most, yet they make use of it the least.
A successful bone rejuvenation or maintenance plan MUST include weight training to stress the bones. There is no other way around it. If the magic drug your doctor wishes to prescribed worked miracles then the handicapped or bedridden could take it and they would magically develop better muscle tone and stronger bones. What happens with these sort of people when they live a life of inactivity for some period of time? They atrophy - their limbs, bones and muscles shrink. Bones are somewhat like muscles in the fact that they shrink and deteriorate with lack of stress. As the old German saying goes "If I rest ~ I rust" and so it goes with bodies that are not used for their intended purpose in life. Most women hate weight training. Most of the women I see at the gym use very light weights that do little good. In order to do some good we have to go beyond moving our own body weight and the more weight this is, generally the better we benefit. We must be mindful of not using too much weight that brings on injury. I general the optimum weight to use can be found by trial and error and would be in the range of being able to do 10 or 12 repetitions with that weight and then fail. Then repeat this "set" a minimum of 3 times while resting in between sets for a minute or two. Personally I usually shoot for 4 or 5 sets of 10 reps for any given exercise. Being able to do 30 or 40 repetitions in one set is a signpost of too light a weight. Being able to do only 5 or 6 repetitions then fail is indicative of using too heavy a weight unless your training to be a "power lifter" and such training is notorious for injury as well.
When we are dying we are usually bedridden and can hardly move. Dying people can generally not carry their own weight to stand up or walk. Some dying people cannot even raise up an arm. The ability to move weights is a signpost of being in good health and we can see the less weight we can move above our own body weight the closer we are to death. (This is relative since some of us are lower in strength due to lower body mass such as women. Also some weightlifters are devoid of health aspects in other areas of internal makeup such as circulation, heart, etc.) One woman I knew used a one pound can of peas for her weights to do dumbbell curls with. As my father used to tell me, "you only get out what you put in" In this case the woman put in very little effort. If all that is between you and death is a one pound can of peas that is not much of a cushion? Start getting to the gym and participating in a balanced active lifestyle.
I knew another lady that used to go to the gym but hated it. Eventually she got a horse and quit the gym. While riding the horse is exercise, riding a horse is not weight training. But women sometimes have the "princess complex" and hate to sweat and hated to lift weights as this women did. She was very resentful for "having" to exercise. I sometimes chuckle at such resentfulness. No one forces you to do exercise. You will benefit from the exercise and if a person hates to exercise, then by all means do not exercise but, do not expect to get the health benefits of exercise unless you put in the effort. We cannot pay our butler to eat good food for us or do our exercise for us. We are all on level ground in this area whether rich or poor. Always remember you can only live "so cushy" of life and still live a healthy life. If you want to be a princess or a goddess then put some time into developing a healthy lifestyle to go along with your dreams of royalty. The king and queen of good health is exercise and good nutrition and the kind and queen must sit on a thrown of low stress living for their rule of the kingdom to be lasting one.
A while back I ran into a woman at the gym. She was in her 50's, was fat and had her personal trainer in tow. She had perfectly done hair and nails and was decked out in her jewelry as well as the latest fashion exercise suit. She had loads of rings, a couple of necklaces, multiple earrings and a couple of bracelets. I overheard her complain to her personal trainer that she did not like to sweat as it messed up her hair as well as gummed up her jewelry. She wanted him to exercise her in a way that would not make her sweat, break a nail or mess up her hair. This lady put her pride in her hair, her jewelry and her clothes but seemed to have little pride in her body or in developing a healthy lifestyle. Thoreau once noted that people inviting him to a dinner would get their pride from how expensive and fancy a meal that could provide. He said on the other hand, he got his pride from how simple a meal he could make. We can get stuck and blinded with perfecting extreme views and this shows us where our pride is located. Pride is attached to their perfectionism. Many of us get stuck perfecting the minutia while the rest of our life is out of balance. I saw this lady for a time or two then she disappeared. I guess no matter how she tried, weight training and hair styling didn't mix. Myself? I try to sweat through activity whenever I can. In short, I put my pride in my sweat and in developing a healthy body the best I can. A few years ago I was sick for many months and could not even work up a sweat. I am most grateful for sweat.
Get tired about hearing about women that hate to sweat? Well, a male acquaintance of my family offered me some good reminders as to a balanced exercise approach to health. He had bone problems and took fosomax but he refused to do weight training exercise. Over time he just keep deteriorating and the bone density kept going downhill. So in his case, the magic drugs did little good. He reminds me to stress and exercise every part of my body. Something I have trouble with myself. Personally I hate leg exercise and prefer to work on upper body where it tends to massage the male ego some. I have to make an effort to do my squats, lunges, leg extensions, leg curls calf raises as well as remembering to exercise portions of the body that I take for granted such as neck exercises, dead lifts for the back as well as flexibility exorcises to keep the spine limber - you are only as young as your spine. Even my hands, shins and forearms get worked with weight training exercises. The choice is yours with what you do with this information. I lectured the elderly male acquaintance I mentioned above but it did absolutely NO good and he and his wife changed nothing other than take more drugs. But through a healthy diet and physical culture most of you will be able to slow or halt such bone deterioration for the most part. Just don't forget ..."You only get out what you put in."
"Minds like bodies will often fall into a pimpled, ill condition state from mere excess of comfort" ~ Charles Dickens
Good Luck
Fookisan
"I am a 53 year old female and my doctor has prescribed fosomax due to low bone density. Is there any alternative out ther to talking drugs to better my bones?"
V writes:
I prefer to work with natural methods instead of drugs and doctors. Doctors have their purpose, but many doctors are not healthy themselves, so how can they give away what they do not have? If you seek to live a life guided by doctors and drugs, at least seek out an older doctor that shows he or she practices good health habits themselves, then maybe you will have a chance. Why an old doctor? Because poor health habits show up with age and you can judge for yourself most of the time as to how the doctor walks the path he talks. Another test is to see if the doctor tells you anything along the lines as I do. If all they tell you is take drugs to fix your bones, then you know which direction they are coming from. Is your doctor about the real promotion of a balanced and healthily lifestyle or is he or she just about pushing the drugs of the pill companies and running up bills for the insurance companies?
A healthy, balanced diet with supplements of calcium such as bone meal or coral calcium, magnesium, vitamin D or sunlight exposure, can help build strong bones. But supplements and good nutrition can only offer the "potential" for healthy bones and never guarantee the delivery of more bone mass. It is no different from a person that wishes to get larger muscle mass and takes lots of supplements and eats tons of protein. They have the potential to increase muscle mass, but until they actually exercise the muscles and strain them the muscles will not grow just to getting lot of supplements and protein. Without the good nutrition the bones will definitely not grow due to lack of fuel, but with the combination of weight bearing exercises coupled with the proper nutrition and supplements we can see positive growth with our muscles as well as out bones. This is an important area that is often neglected by women. Middle age women as a group need weight training the most, yet they make use of it the least.
A successful bone rejuvenation or maintenance plan MUST include weight training to stress the bones. There is no other way around it. If the magic drug your doctor wishes to prescribed worked miracles then the handicapped or bedridden could take it and they would magically develop better muscle tone and stronger bones. What happens with these sort of people when they live a life of inactivity for some period of time? They atrophy - their limbs, bones and muscles shrink. Bones are somewhat like muscles in the fact that they shrink and deteriorate with lack of stress. As the old German saying goes "If I rest ~ I rust" and so it goes with bodies that are not used for their intended purpose in life. Most women hate weight training. Most of the women I see at the gym use very light weights that do little good. In order to do some good we have to go beyond moving our own body weight and the more weight this is, generally the better we benefit. We must be mindful of not using too much weight that brings on injury. I general the optimum weight to use can be found by trial and error and would be in the range of being able to do 10 or 12 repetitions with that weight and then fail. Then repeat this "set" a minimum of 3 times while resting in between sets for a minute or two. Personally I usually shoot for 4 or 5 sets of 10 reps for any given exercise. Being able to do 30 or 40 repetitions in one set is a signpost of too light a weight. Being able to do only 5 or 6 repetitions then fail is indicative of using too heavy a weight unless your training to be a "power lifter" and such training is notorious for injury as well.
When we are dying we are usually bedridden and can hardly move. Dying people can generally not carry their own weight to stand up or walk. Some dying people cannot even raise up an arm. The ability to move weights is a signpost of being in good health and we can see the less weight we can move above our own body weight the closer we are to death. (This is relative since some of us are lower in strength due to lower body mass such as women. Also some weightlifters are devoid of health aspects in other areas of internal makeup such as circulation, heart, etc.) One woman I knew used a one pound can of peas for her weights to do dumbbell curls with. As my father used to tell me, "you only get out what you put in" In this case the woman put in very little effort. If all that is between you and death is a one pound can of peas that is not much of a cushion? Start getting to the gym and participating in a balanced active lifestyle.
I knew another lady that used to go to the gym but hated it. Eventually she got a horse and quit the gym. While riding the horse is exercise, riding a horse is not weight training. But women sometimes have the "princess complex" and hate to sweat and hated to lift weights as this women did. She was very resentful for "having" to exercise. I sometimes chuckle at such resentfulness. No one forces you to do exercise. You will benefit from the exercise and if a person hates to exercise, then by all means do not exercise but, do not expect to get the health benefits of exercise unless you put in the effort. We cannot pay our butler to eat good food for us or do our exercise for us. We are all on level ground in this area whether rich or poor. Always remember you can only live "so cushy" of life and still live a healthy life. If you want to be a princess or a goddess then put some time into developing a healthy lifestyle to go along with your dreams of royalty. The king and queen of good health is exercise and good nutrition and the kind and queen must sit on a thrown of low stress living for their rule of the kingdom to be lasting one.
A while back I ran into a woman at the gym. She was in her 50's, was fat and had her personal trainer in tow. She had perfectly done hair and nails and was decked out in her jewelry as well as the latest fashion exercise suit. She had loads of rings, a couple of necklaces, multiple earrings and a couple of bracelets. I overheard her complain to her personal trainer that she did not like to sweat as it messed up her hair as well as gummed up her jewelry. She wanted him to exercise her in a way that would not make her sweat, break a nail or mess up her hair. This lady put her pride in her hair, her jewelry and her clothes but seemed to have little pride in her body or in developing a healthy lifestyle. Thoreau once noted that people inviting him to a dinner would get their pride from how expensive and fancy a meal that could provide. He said on the other hand, he got his pride from how simple a meal he could make. We can get stuck and blinded with perfecting extreme views and this shows us where our pride is located. Pride is attached to their perfectionism. Many of us get stuck perfecting the minutia while the rest of our life is out of balance. I saw this lady for a time or two then she disappeared. I guess no matter how she tried, weight training and hair styling didn't mix. Myself? I try to sweat through activity whenever I can. In short, I put my pride in my sweat and in developing a healthy body the best I can. A few years ago I was sick for many months and could not even work up a sweat. I am most grateful for sweat.
Get tired about hearing about women that hate to sweat? Well, a male acquaintance of my family offered me some good reminders as to a balanced exercise approach to health. He had bone problems and took fosomax but he refused to do weight training exercise. Over time he just keep deteriorating and the bone density kept going downhill. So in his case, the magic drugs did little good. He reminds me to stress and exercise every part of my body. Something I have trouble with myself. Personally I hate leg exercise and prefer to work on upper body where it tends to massage the male ego some. I have to make an effort to do my squats, lunges, leg extensions, leg curls calf raises as well as remembering to exercise portions of the body that I take for granted such as neck exercises, dead lifts for the back as well as flexibility exorcises to keep the spine limber - you are only as young as your spine. Even my hands, shins and forearms get worked with weight training exercises. The choice is yours with what you do with this information. I lectured the elderly male acquaintance I mentioned above but it did absolutely NO good and he and his wife changed nothing other than take more drugs. But through a healthy diet and physical culture most of you will be able to slow or halt such bone deterioration for the most part. Just don't forget ..."You only get out what you put in."
"Minds like bodies will often fall into a pimpled, ill condition state from mere excess of comfort" ~ Charles Dickens
Good Luck
Fookisan
