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Jump to it! Building strong bones now |
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| Ever break a bone or know someone who did? You know how painful that can be and how it can interfere with your life. When you are young, broken bones are caused by accidents but, in much older people, the bones can get so weak and full of holes that they just snap. Ouch! That is called osteoporosis and it the one chronic disease you can possibly prevent by doing REALLY SIMPLE exercises as a teen. |
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Early adolescence is a very important time for building bone strength. Most of your bone mass is formed during childhood and during puberty about one quarter of all the bone you will ever develop is formed. By age 30, adults start to LOSE bone mass with particularly rapid loss of bone in women after menopause.
So get jumping!
Jumping? Yes! Several studies have shown that jumping is perhaps uniquely effective in stimulating bone strength in young teens.
Jumping is so effective because it stresses the bones causing the bones’ building cells to turn on. Running is good exercise for your heart but when you run your skeleton absorbs a force of only twice your body weight. When you jump it absorbs five times your body weight.
If you are already past puberty, weight–bearing exercises are still good for your bones. And you should get your younger sisters and brothers jumping. Maybe you can even get a jumping program started at your local school.
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