Weakened bones, muscles, and ligaments are not inevitable with ageing. The best way to prevent that is exercise.
And I’m talking about weight-bearing exercise, so using gravity. Exercise 45 minutes to an hour most days of the week to a moderate level, which means you can’t have a conversation. You’re too out of breath to have a conversation. That, is moderate exercise. If you can walk round the park with the dog and gossip about your friends and family, that’s not moderate exercise. It might be fun, but it’s not moderate exercise.
The other thing that you’ve gotta do is try and actually create impact. So things like Zumba, jumping, jogging are very good for your bones and ligaments. This is because you’re actually not gonna destroy your joints. But that impact actually physically strengthens your bones. So those are the sorts of things that you really need to do to maintain healthy bones, ligaments and muscles.
Drugs can help reverse some of the effects of bone thinning with age, but you’re much better to be ahead of the pack and have strong bones to start with.
Dr Norman Swan, Physician and Journalist