Want to Protect Your Bones? Work on Balance

If you ask a room full of people how you can protect your bones, you’ll probably hear a lot of answers about calcium. Maybe you’ll get a few people talking about other aspects of nutrition. If you’re really lucky, someone will mention exercise. But most people completely miss one of the most important ways to protect your bones: improve your balance.

Balance Declines in Middle Age

Balance starts declining around the age of 40 to 50 years. There are several reasons that you may start to feel off-balance during this time, including:

• Natural changes in vision
• Declining reflexes and coordination
• Losing strength
• Less flexibility
• Certain medications 
• Nerve damage 
• Sudden changes in blood pressure
• Cell decline in the inner ear

Some of these risk factors are unavoidable, such as vision changes and inner ear problems that are normal parts of aging. However, it’s never too late to start working on your balance to counteract these issues. 

Improve Your Reflexes and Coordination

When you think of someone with excellent balance, what comes to mind? You might think of a tight rope artist or a gymnast on a balance beam. What do these athletes and artists have in common? They have fast reflexes and incredible coordination. 

When you improve your balance, you work on those same skills. Your body becomes quick to react to anything that throws you off-balance, and all the parts of the body start working in-sync. And that’s exactly what you need to avoid falls that hurt your bones. 

You’ve probably heard the old adage, “prevention is the best medicine.” It’s true, especially when it comes to bone health. While we can often heal broken bones, they never grow back exactly the same. Instead, it’s better to avoid fractures altogether. As we age, the best way to do that is to avoid falls by improving reflexes and coordination – also known as balance.

Better Balance Improves Posture

Falls aren’t the only threat to your bone health. Fractures can also occur when we put too much of the wrong kind of stress on any particular bone. This happens when we have poor posture. For example, if you hunch your back, you disrupt the natural s-curve of your spine. Consequently, several bones throughout the body get too much stress. 

This undue stress can cause fractures, even without a fall. When you intentionally work on your balance, you will naturally improve your posture. That’s because great balance relies on great posture. When you improve your posture, your bones can breathe a sigh of relief.

Build and Protect Your Bones and Balance with Yoga

When done safely, yoga can improve your balance, bone density, and more. With a few minutes of bone-safe yoga per day, you can keep yourself safe and healthy. Learn more by checking out the Bone Builder System. Sign up for the waitlist now.