This week we had Osteoscan in for the day. This is a new company that has a portable bone density scanner – they could scan clients in our lovely reformer room, give clients their results right there and then, and then send them their results via email along with any advice needed.
When Karen at Osteoscan told me about it, I thought it was a fantastic opportunity to be able to offer this service to Balance clients and anyone else that might want it. However, they will only come if we have 10 people sign up, and with me we had the 10! I was a bit surprised that more people didn’t want to take up this opportunity………I think it is an area we probably don’t now much about and possibly is under our radar.
How glad am I that I did it as my results came back as in the Osteopenia range.
I was really surprised as I don’t fall into the at risk categories, no family history and I have exercised ALL my life. I am part of the generation that did a lot of PE at school, played netball, played squash and then after my first child, I discovered running and have run fairly consistently for at least 15years. I cycle regularly, even cycling from London to Paris, I have walked all my life (and not little walks, but many, many long treks, including Everest Base Camp). On top of that, I eat really pretty well, have maintained a good body weight, with just a recent gaining of weight primarily due to good old hormones and menopause!
Now, I’m telling you all of this, not because I feel sorry for myself or not because I’m really doing the ‘Why Me’, but because if an active, healthy-eating person like me can be in the Osteopenia range, surely anyone can.
The good news though, is that now I know, I can really start to address where I can make changes and make improvements in my bone density. That’s the benefit of knowing – I can take action, rather that carrying on, not knowing and possibly end up with Osteoporosis.
There is a lot we can do, and two clients that I am aware of have already made huge improvements in their bone health.
Here are some interesting facts I learnt yesterday:
Smaller-framed, lighter-weight people are more at risk.
Menopause has such a huge effect on our bone density, and as we are living longer, we need to seriously consider this. There has been such negative press surrounding HRT that a whole generation of women are avoiding it, which may not be the right option for them.
Spinach inhibits calcium absorption!!! This was a shocker as I love spinach, eat it all the time and often with calcium-rich food such as salmon and dairy.
Weights are a must. Now, we do a lot of bodyweight-bearing exercises in Pilates, we also use weights (though I haven’t for a while), we use resistance bands too and focus a lot on balance, all of which are vital for strong bones.
You only need to do 10 mins of weights per day.
The official figures are that 55% of women over 50 have Osteopenia, although unofficially, Karen who does the scanning says they are seeing higher results than that………
Osteopenia and Osteoporosis affects men too.
Lots of women over 50 years old do not know they are in the Osteopenia range – that is really scary, because this is the time you can make a difference.
So, this has made me think a lot about what we do at Balance and could we do more as we have a high proportion of women over 50? Pippa and I have got our heads together and we will be putting together some specific Bone Health classes/workshops. Pippa has already done a lot of training in this area and has a lot of knowledge, so we will be able to bring you up to date information and exactly the right type of exercises that you should be doing.
Also, if we get enough people who would now like to have a scan – it really is so important to know – I can organise for them to come back again. We just need 10 people, so please do register your interest (my contact details are at the end of this email).
Finally, next week is half-term so we are closed, except for catch-up classes and Kundalini on Wednesday.
Our next 3 E’s meet up is November 9th, 10am – 12noon: please let me know if you can make it, and if you would like to join our Facebook group, click here.