Did you know, our bones need to be “surprised” to stimulate the bone building cells in our body. So walking at a steady pace unfortunately means that the benefits levels off after the surprise is over (about 80 paces!!). However, do not despair, there are obviously huge benefits to walking for your general health.
BUT! if you change pace regularly during your walk, you will continue to “surprise” your bone cells, and in doing so will help to build your bones (you can improve your bone density by doing this). However any changes need to be done in a gradual manner so that the shock to the system isn’t too great (causing injury).
An example of this if you are currently walking regularly but at a steady pace, would be to warm up regular walking for 5 minutes then, going a little faster for 2 mins, then a little slower for 2 mins, and repeat this every 5 mins. Bear in mind this is general advice and might not suit everyone.
The guidelines per week are 150 minutes per week of moderate intensity weight-bearing exercise (such as walking). This type of exercise then needs to be combined with twice weekly resistance training (such as weights, yoga/pilates).
We run two classes aimed at improving bone health.
Our 9.45am Wednesday class is a weights and pilates programme, and our 12pm Active Over-60’s Wednesday class is a general strengthening class.
If you are interested please contact us at info@eastcoastphysio.ie or call 0404-49781.
We can also offer 1:1 physiotherapy sessions where we can design a programme specifically for you