Running News Daily

Running has positive effects on muscle and bone health

Physical activity and exercise are important parts of the overall strategy for improving the health of your bones and the strength of your muscles. While participating in running has positive effects on muscle and bone health, it is important that we develop and maintain a strong musculoskeletal system that can provide us with support for the long run.Incorporate the following into your training routine to help keep your bones and muscles strong:

Incorporate Weightbearing Exercise

Every time our feet strike the ground, the impact causes a loading force on the bone, which encourages bone building. That’s why it’s important to engage in regular weight-bearing exercise at any age or fitness level.Moderate intensity activities such as walking and running have been found to have a positive effect on bone mass, but activities with high impact forces such as jumping, gymnastics, and a variety of ball and power sports cause a stronger bone response.

In general, you should aim to maintain a high level of weightbearing physical activity.

However, the activity selected must be appropriate to your current fitness level and safe for you to perform.

You can gradually work up to performing 30-60 minutes of weightbearing activities 3-5 times per week.

Incorporate a Strength-Training Program

Strength training is probably one of the most important things you can do for bone health and muscle strength. Strong muscles will help support your joints and bones while you are running. When the muscles are not strong enough to provide support, your joints and bones can get overloaded, which may increase the risk of injury.To get the best results from a strength training program you should consider:

Starting out by working on proper exercise technique with bodyweight exercises before adding external resistance. You can progress by gradually increasing the resistance as your muscles become stronger. Moderate to high intensity resistance training exercises have been shown to have positive effects on bone health.

Performing exercises that target major muscles groups at least 2 times per week. Allow for 24-48 hours of rest in between each resistance training session.

Including exercises that strengthen the core and hips. A strong core and strong hips will help you maintain proper postural alignment and provide you with support during the run.

Staying consistent. Improvements in strength and bone mineral density are not maintained when you discontinue to exercise.