Afraid of hurting your joints and not exercising? Three principles of bone-protecting walking

Worried about wearing out your joints and not exercising? Be careful, the quality of bones and joints may be even worse! In fact, brisk walking is a very healthy exercise for middle-aged and elderly people. As long as you follow the correct exercise principles, you can take care of your bones and joints. Experts suggest that people should warm up before going for a walk, keep their heels on the ground while walking, and drink milk to supplement calcium after the exercise. This will keep your bones healthy!

Walking is a very suitable exercise for middle-aged and elderly people. As long as you follow the correct walking principles, you can promote bone and joint health.

Afraid of injury and afraid to exercise? Not moving will hurt your bones and joints

The human body's bones and joints enter a period of wear and tear between the ages of 30 and 40. Although many people know that exercise is good for bones, they are "afraid to move" for fear of hurting their joints. Chen Fangping, president of the Osteoporosis Association of the Republic of China (TOA), pointed out that exercise can not only activate bone remodeling mechanisms and increase bone density, but also cause joints to secrete tissue fluid, which enters the cartilage tissue to provide nutrients. If you don't exercise for a long time, it may cause damage to both your bones and joints.

Chen Fangping, president of the Osteoporosis Association of the Republic of China (TOA), reminded the public that as long as they follow the three principles of brisk walking, they can exercise safely and protect the health of their bones and joints. (Photography by Lin Zhiyang)

Walking helps increase bone density. Learn the three correct principles.

For people who want to exercise but are afraid of joint injuries, Chairman Chen Fangping recommends that they choose brisk walking as an entry-level sport. Past studies have shown that walking as exercise can increase femoral bone density. Health walking is a walking exercise that combines aerobic and weight-bearing properties. It not only helps increase bone density, but also has less impact on joints than jogging, is less likely to cause joint burden, and can maintain bone and joint health at the same time.

The Osteoporosis Society of the Republic of China proposed the "Three Principles of Walking to Protect Bones and Strengthen Joints" to encourage people to develop regular exercise habits.

Principle 1: Do dynamic warm-up to strengthen tendons and ligaments and protect joints

Many people ignore the importance of warming up before exercising. Chairman Chen Fangping said that warm-up can be divided into dynamic and static types. Before walking, static warm-up (such as stretching) is not enough. Dynamic warm-up (such as hugging the knees and raising them, rotating the ankles, and rotating the knees) can better strengthen the length of the tendons and the elasticity of the ligament tissue. If you skip the warm-up step or only do partial static stretching, it is easy to cause sports injuries due to uneven muscle temperature and stretching.

Principle 1 of health walking: Before health walking, in addition to doing static warm-up, don’t forget to do dynamic warm-up exercises such as hugging your knees and raising them to protect your joints. (Photography by Lin Zhiyang)

Principle 2: Don’t walk like running, land on your heels to avoid injury

The correct walking posture should not be underestimated. Many people walk in a jogging manner, which is actually a wrong posture. Chairman Chen Fangping emphasized that brisk walking is different from running. When jogging, the toes should touch the ground first, which is the opposite of brisk walking. When walking, you must use your heels and step in the order of "heel-sole-toe" so that your ankles and knees can evenly bear the weight of your body.

Principle 2 of health walking: Remind the public that health walking and running postures are different. When health walking, you should land on your heels first to protect your bones and joints.

Principle 3: Drink high-calcium milk after exercise to delay joint degeneration

In addition to correct exercise, supplementing milk is also key to protecting bones and joints. Recent American research has found that milk not only supplements calcium but also strengthens joints. The study surveyed 2,148 patients with knee arthritis and found that women who drank more than one cup of milk a day had a 0.12mm lower reduction in joint space width (JSW) after two years than those who did not drink milk. Another international study also showed that people who drink milk every day have a 71% lower risk of developing arthritis than those who rarely drink milk.

Principle three of brisk walking: After exercise, it is recommended to supplement with high-calcium milk to increase calcium and vitamin D supplements.

Calcium + Vitamin D - Guguben's two-pronged approach

In order to store bone mass and protect bones and joints, it is important to consume calcium, vitamin D and protein. A domestic survey showed that among 199 postmenopausal women, 194 women had experienced osteoporotic fractures, and as many as 86.6% of these women had insufficient vitamin D intake. However, supplementing vitamin D alone is not enough. Foreign scholars have sorted out recent studies and found that vitamin D must be supplemented with calcium at the same time to further reduce the risk of fractures.

Chairman Chen Fangping recommends that people should consume 2 cups of 250c.c. high-calcium milk (containing 600mg of calcium and 200IU of vitamin D) every day to meet the daily recommended intake standard and help maintain bone and joint health.