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Question of the Week: Could Martial Arts Training Help Prevent Fractures?
Question of the Week: Is Osteoporosis a Manufactured Disease?
By Pam Flores, Health Guide— Last Modified: 12/23/10, First Published: 04/25/10
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Dear Pam,
You have raised a very interesting question! I dont know anything about Martial Arts but I have seen movies where the person put one foot forward and bends the knee like in a lunge and then strikes out with his fist, like Jacky Chan!! lol.
However this might interest you as it is a very recent occurrence, and may have a lot on weight bearing exercises and their impact on the legs ( and bones).
I had been feeling fatigue in the legs from the past three years while walking on straight roads. I had tried all the stretching exercises and some strengthening exercises but to no avail. I was even taking large doses of Vit D for it, but the legs got easily fatigued on straight roads.
Then I started walking on climbs -- more out of necessity as a shortcut to places -- and I found to my GREAT SURPRISE that each time a climbed slopes, albeit very slowly, I found myself walking much better on the straight roads that followed with much less fatigue!! It appeared as if strength had miraculously come to my quadriceps and calf muscles!! It got to the point where I began searching for slopes to climb and excuses to my wife to go there! And another astonishing fact -- the steeper the slope the better I felt, even though I walked very very slowly!!
It appears that the posture of one leg ahead and bent at the knee may actually be beneficial for the leg muscles and walking!! The greater the slope the greater the bend of the knee like in the martial arts. And surely better leg muscles help to keep balance and prevent falls and fractures. So indirectly I may have answered your question!!
Please write separately on the question of walking on slopes and climbing stairs to improve legs and osteoporosis and to prevent fractures!!
Your knowledge supersedes any I have come across by many an expert on many a website for health. Please keep it up! You have lots of readers and admirers in India -- who are reading over my shoulder or else I am translating your writings to them in their language even as I read them myself!!
Thanking you,
Yours,
Priya
Hi Priya, glad you could join us again; you are so loyal to this web site that we all appreciate it so much!! It sure sounds like you have found the solution to your muscle and leg weakness. Whenever we push our muscles to perform at a higher rate, that will strengthen them and the underlying bone too. You probably got some vit D on your treks as well. I would say keep it up! Just be sure that the paths you choose to walk on aren't too precarious with loose rocks etc. I hope your wife doesn't mind following you on this also, because it's good for her health as well. You're also getting a great cardiovascular workout as well as strength/balance/muscle training all-in-one.
What I'm wondering is whether or not this fall-training they're referring to in the feasibility study would be something that an individual with osteoporosis could do. They said that if you could train people to fall in a safe way by turning a fall into a rolling tumble by bending your spine, neck, etc., could be accomplished safely by those with bone loss.
If you get a chance, look at the link at the end of the post and then once it's loaded click on figure 1, and it shows how this tumbling fall could be done without causing a fractured hip. I hope that this technique would work on an unchoreographed fall, because there would be a lot of things to remember, movement wise, and all this would have to be accomplish during a unexpected fall with very little time to think.
The pictures are very interesting in how they show someone accomplishing this movement.
Also, climbing stairs is a recommended weight bearing exercise, as long as you can do this safely and you don't have joint/knee problems. The National Osteoporosis Foundation recommends stair climbing for their suggested weight bearing exercise, and I would think this type of walking you are doing is even better than stairs, as long as you can do it safely, because you are varying the stress put on the muscle/leg which is better than just repetitive exercise that doesn't change in skeletal impact with each step.
Thanks again for your participation and I'm glad we have so many readers where you are, and also glad they enjoy the articles. Thanks for translating them for us; you are a true friend to all those you know.
Pam
Dear Pam,
Thanks so much for your every encouraging reply to my mountain walks-- now I can do so without fret or worry that I was doing something wrong. Your reply has come like a real morale booster. I will note the precautions you have underlined, because part of the way does have loose rocks and stones and pebbles and I will be extra careful not to trip -- or choose a better path without these obstacles! Thank you ever so much!!
I will see the Figure about the falls and tumbles as I might just need them if ever I fell even accidentally along the paths. Although of course such advice would be difficult to practice routinely. But the instructions are certainly worth keeping in mind. The only difficulty being that falls happen so suddenly that there is no time at all to think -- before one knows it, one is on the ground!!
But please write an article on climbing up slopes or stairs to allay a lot of misconceptions in people's minds!! Your article would have the authority of studied medical research and knowledge! I am sure many people in the world still dont know of the benefits of these exercises, and your article would put a seal of approval on them!!
Thank you for your very enlightening discussions where you choose a new and surprising topic each time that has a great bearing on our lives and well being!!
Yours,
Priya