Tomorrow is National Women’s Health & Fitness Day

When people think about weight-bearing exercise, most picture a buff body builder struggling to lift weights at the gym. In reality, weight-bearing exercise takes the form of many types of physical activities and is necessary for optimal health, especially for women and girls.

Tomorrow is National Women’s Health and Fitness Day which aims to educate women and girls on the importance of regular physical activity and encourages smart health decisions. In honor of this day, The Orthopaedic Institute wants to highlight the importance of weight-bearing exercise in women’s physical fitness programs.

According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, regular weight-bearing exercise is a necessity for reaching top strength and maintaining bone density. Any activity you do on your feet that works your bones and muscles against gravity is considered weight-bearing exercise.

Dr. Phillip Parr, Board Certified in Orthopaedic Surgery, recommends that weight-bearing exercise begin in childhood through organized sports, running and other forms of exercise. In adulthood, physical activity tends to lessen but walking is an easy form of weight-bearing exercise that anyone can participate in.

“Walking is just as effective as jogging or running,” he said. “If anything, it is better for your joints and you don’t have to be an athlete to do it. Ultimately, you should find something that you enjoy doing so you continue with it regularly.”

Weight-bearing exercise that Dr. Parr recommends:

• Running, jogging, brisk walking
• Dancing, step aerobics
• Weight training
• Team sports – Soccer, baseball, flag football
• Racquet sports - Tennis

Bone is living tissue that constantly breaks down and reforms. Regular weight-bearing exercise causes the bones to adapt to the weight impact by building more cells and becoming stronger.

To sustain the bone strengthening benefits of weight-bearing activity, the intensity, duration and amount of stress applied to the bone must increase gradually over time. Young women and girls should especially concentrate on building strong bones to prevent Osteoporosis later in life.

Osteoporosis is a loss of bone tissue that affects about 10 million people in America. Additionally, almost 34 million more people are estimated to have low bone mass, putting them at an increased risk for the disease, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation website.

Women in their twenties, thirties and forties need to participate in weight-bearing exercise and take supplements to ensure as little loss in bone density as possible, Dr. Parr said. That is when most women stop exercising as frequently, and it is a critical time for Osteoporosis prevention.

Besides improving bone strength, regular exercise increases muscle strength, improves coordination and balance, and leads to better overall health. The recommended amount of exercise is at least 30 minutes per day, four or more times per week.

Aside from regular weight-bearing activity, foods rich in calcium (found in dairy products) and Vitamin D (found in vegetables and fish) also help support healthy bone growth. Supplements are recommended if there is a deficiency of calcium and Vitamin D in diets.

A Vitamin D deficiency is something that many people aren’t aware they suffer from. This vitamin allows the body to absorb the calcium which is why you see many types of milk that are fortified with it, Dr. Parr said.

In celebration of National Women’s Health and Fitness Day, take the opportunity to add a new weight-bearing exercise to your fitness regime and reap the benefits of healthier and stronger bones!

One of The Orthopaedic Institute’s physical therapists, Joyce Shahboz, recently returned from spending two weeks at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The center is a training ground for a wide variety of athletes year round. There are resident athletes who live and train on the university-like campus all year, youth developmental groups and national athletes who train there seasonally. Triathlons, equestrian events, weight-lifting competitions, cycling races and other sporting events are held at the training camp as well.

Shahboz got involved with the training center last year when she went as an assistant coach for a local swim team. She put in an application to be a volunteer physical therapist and was accepted.

The two weeks Shahboz spent at the training center were mostly spent with a youth gymnastic camp. The camp consisted of an elite group of 10 to 11-year-old boys who are future Olympic hopefuls.

“I was in awe at how intelligent and driven the boys were,” said Shahboz. “There were few complaints, they went out and did what their coaches told them to. They all wanted to be there and to succeed.”

Despite practice two times per day, all of the boys were having fun and just being kids. It was a very positive atmosphere, she said.

Shahboz worked as a trainer – taping ankles and wrists, stretching the athletes and diagnosing injuries. She also worked at the clinic with chiropractors and other athletic trainers. The clinic is open to all of the athletes and was an opportunity for Shahboz to work with a multitude of competitors.

“Everyone was so appreciative of our help,” she said. “You hear so many horror stories about working with elite athletes. They were nothing like that and were very open to our suggestions.”

The experience reminded Shahboz of things she had once learned about and also gave her the opportunity to work on injuries that she had not worked on before. One new experience for Shahboz was working with paralympic athletes.

“They have the same joints as you and me, but they aren’t formed correctly,” she said. “It made me think outside the box on how to properly go about treatment.”

Shahboz hopes to work with the training center again and plans to keep in contact with people at the facility. Because of her extensive background in swimming, she would welcome the opportunity to work with the U.S. swim team.

“I have a lot of experience working with swimmers, but there are so many other sports that I would love to work with,” she said. “They are all really cool, and I will take any opportunity that they give me to work at the training center again.”

National School Backpack Awareness Day celebrates its 10th anniversary today. With the school year in full swing, it is important to educate children on how to properly pack, lift and carry their backpacks in order to avoid potential back injuries.
According to the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc. (AOTA) website, it is recommended that a loaded backpack should never weigh more than 15 percent of the students total body weight. For a 70 pound child, his or her backpack should weigh no more than 10.5 pounds. Furthermore, the height of the backpack should extend approximately 2 inches below the shoulder blades to waist level or slightly above waste level. Students should always wear the backpack on both shoulders so that the weight is evenly distributed.

“The most frequently seen issue is muscle spasms caused by students wearing their backpacks on one shoulder,” said Dr. Troy Trimble, D.O., board certified orthopaedic surgeon at The Orthopaedic Institute. “An even distribution of weight is the best way to prevent shoulder, neck and back pain.”

To help with the weight of the backpack, make sure that all items in the backpack are necessary for the day’s activitities. If the students’ backpack is still too heavy, try having him or her carry a book or other item by hand. A book bag on wheels is another option for children whose bags are too heavy on a regular basis, although many school districts now prohibit them.
With heavy backpacks, the key to comfort is making sure that the backpack is placed so that the weight is transferred to the hips. The spine should just be used for support, said Dr. Trimble.

The AOTA website also offers tips for teaching students how to safely wear backpacks: 

• With children in Kindergarten through Grade two, it’s more effective to communicate simple rules for wearing backpacks. Tell them to wear two straps, close to the back and above the rear. Also, ask children to demonstrate correct versus incorrect postures with backpacks.
•  For children grades three through five, use a skeleton model to offer a simple anatomical lesson on where the backpack should be placed on the body. Also, show body locations that can be injured by improperly wearing a backpack.
• Starting with a pretest of current backpack behaviors to promote self reflection is most effective with students in grades six through 12. Discuss appropriate backpack wearing strategies, emphasizing how the backpack should look on their bodies. Offering facts about injury rates and statistics related to the causes of injury and body parts injured may also be helpful.

While wearing a backpack improperly is unlikely to cause serious back injuries, teaching proper posture and healthy back habits at a young age can help prevent future spinal damage and improve overall back health. It will also give children one less excuse for missing school!

With September being designated as National Yoga Awareness Month, it is a great opportunity to add variety to your physical fitness program. Yoga has proven to have a wide range of health benefits for the body, mind and spirit including:

• Strengthened bones and joints
• Decreased chronic back pain
• Improved Posture
• Increased flexibility
• Decreased stress
• Weight loss
• Lower blood pressure and cholesterol

The cost of poor health has left its mark on the United States. Arthritis is the leading cause of disability, costing the economy $86 billion a year. Repetitive strain injuries, including carpal tunnel, are the most costly occupational health problem with more than $20 billion a year in workers compensation. Both of these issues can be improved and/or prevented through effective health practices, yoga being one of them.
Yoga helps to improve flexibility and mobility by increasing the body’s range of motion and reducing aches and pains. It also strengthens the body’s muscles while relieving muscular tension.
Herb Anding, physical therapist and Clinical Director of the Physical Therapy Center at The Orthopaedic Institute’s Gainesville office, said that if done properly, yoga is safe for everyone. It is beneficial for anyone who is working on increased flexibility and core strengthening.
Yoga is also low impact which makes it beneficial for certain bone and joint problems like carpal tunnel syndrome, tennis elbow and arthritis, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons website.
With more than 70 million Americans suffering from one or more types of cardiovascular disease, people are searching for new methods to improve their health. Yoga has proven to provide cardiovascular benefits by lowering the resting heart rate, increasing endurance and improving oxygen uptake during exercise.
The rewards of yoga far outweigh the potential risks, but it is important to understand the possible injuries that could occur while practicing yoga. One of them being muscle strains from overstretching the neck, shoulders, spines, legs or knees.
“There is a tendency to want to compete in classes,” Anding said. “You see someone stretch to the floor and then you feel like you have to do the same. Don’t push past your pain threshold. Do what is comfortable for you.”
For more tips on how to prevent yoga injuries visit:
http://http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00063