Build Your Bones and Pump Your Heart during Aerobic Exercise

AICR Ever Green, Ever Healthy

February 2007

Topic: Lifestyle

Build Your Bones and Pump Your Heart During Aerobic Exercise

            Walking as a form of aerobic exercise is a free and efficient way to burn calories and live a healthy lifestyle, simply by working against gravity and supporting your body’s weight. Studies show that weight-bearing activity increases bone density and strength, which is important to decrease risk for osteoporosis, a disease that causes bone tissue to become brittle and thin.  Walking also boosts your heart rate, which speeds up the calorie-burning process; though it is important to exercise properly and within a targeted heart rate zone.  Strengthening bones and the heart muscle are two wise goals to strive for when walking.

Bone has to be stressed to make new bone.  When muscle pulls on bone during walking, bone is stimulated to grow more tissue.  As a result, appropriate stress levels upon bones actually help them grow stronger.  By taking the correct precautions, you can strengthen your bones without inflicting injury.

Dr. Mark Klaiman, a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist in Bethesda, Maryland, advises wearing comfortable, well-fitting shoes that support your arches and your ankles and protect your toes. He also suggests starting your walking routine slowly, with a 5-10 minute walk each day, at a speed that makes you breathe a little faster but does not prevent you from conversing while you walk. As walking gets easier, add five or ten minutes each week. You may want to keep track of your progress – time and distance, for example – by writing it in a diary.

Listen to Your Heart

Before you begin your walking routine, don’t forget to consult with your doctor about monitoring your heart rate.  Check with your doctor about a safe pace and length of time when beginning your routine.  You know you are giving your heart a workout when your physical activity makes you perspire and become breathless—even if it’s just climbing the stairs.  The heart is a muscle and its ability to endure a little stress means that it is strong.  Getting regular aerobic exercise keeps it that way and helps to lower your cancer risk.  In order to make sure your heart rate is neither too slow to maximize health benefits nor so fast that you strain yourself, examine the chart below for an idea of where your heart rate range falls.