Your Skeleton Is Younger Than You Think!

Did you know that you grow a new skeleton approximately every 10 years give or take?

Now I don’t mean “ta da” and a brand new set of bones appears, although that would be fun!

What actually happens is that as you sit here reading this, your bones are being broken down and rebuilt. This has been happening all of your life and it will continue for the rest of your life. Yes it does slow down as you grow older, and menopause of course has an effect with the drop in oestrogen, but the mechanism carries on.

What does this mean and why is it so important?

Two sets of cells are at work in your bones. Cells called osteoclasts break down old bone and clear it away. Then cells called osteoblasts follow behind and build new bone in its place.

Think of it as a demolition crew and a building crew working side by side, a tiny patch at a time. Over about a decade the whole skeleton gets renewed.

When you were younger the builders kept comfortably ahead. After menopause oestrogen drops, and that lets the demolition side get a bit ahead of the building side. Nobody tells us this. It happens quietly, usually until something goes wrong.

This is why it is so important. If your bones are being rebuilt every day, you can have a say in how they are built.

So what actually helps?

Bone responds to challenge. Impact and resistance training both send a clear message to your bones to build more. They build muscle strength too, which matters just as much, because strong muscles protect your bones and keep you steady on your feet.

What you eat has an effect as well. Your bones need protein, calcium and vitamin D to build with, so the food on your plate is part of the job.

The choices you make today help build the skeleton you will live in later. That is the good news, and it is why I get so passionate about it.

[Image suggestion: a simple everyday movement shot, such as someone climbing stairs or lifting a light weight in a kitchen.]

Why I care so much

I have spent 25 years as an osteopath, and I have seen what happens when bone strength is overlooked. I have also seen it at home. I have had to pick an elderly relative up off the floor after she had spent the night there, because she did not have the strength to get herself up.

We rightly pay attention to heart disease and cancer. I would argue bone strength belongs on that list too. A hip fracture is a serious event. Depending on the study, somewhere between one in five and one in three people die within a year of breaking a hip. Many who survive never return to the life they were enjoying before.

That is not meant to frighten you. It is meant to say this deserves your attention, and that you can do something about it. Even if you have been diagnosed with osteopenia, bone density can often stabilise and in some cases improve.

You do not have to lift super heavy or jump off things

You may have seen a lot online about bench pressing enormous weights or jumping off boxes. If that is not for you, or your body is not ready, or you simply do not like gyms, you do not have to do any of it.

Lifting weights is brilliant for bone because it puts good stress on it, and that stress tells your body to build more. But if you are starting from scratch that is not where you begin. You begin from where you are.

There is plenty you can do from the comfort of your own home to keep your bones and muscles strong as you get older. Small things you can fit around a full life.

What happens next

Over the coming posts I will show you exactly what those things are, in a way that is simple and doable. If you would like them to land in your inbox, subscribe to the newsletter below and follow along.

Your bones are listening. Let’s give them something good to work with.