As a child growing up, do you remember comparing your height to every relative who stood still for five minutes? Remember your joy as you slowly grew taller than an aunt or your mother?
As an adult, when you re-visited some of these ladies, now getting along in years, were you surprised to discover they were shorter than you recalled? Did you just chalk it up to your - as an adult - being taller now?
The fact is, your female relatives may very well have lost several inches in height. They could, indeed, be shrinking...
The average woman stands to lose between 2 ½ to eight inches of her height once she reaches menopause. Many medical experts believed at one time that this loss was inevitable. Now the medical community realizes that it isn't.
The loss in height is related to osteoporosis, which is a lessening of the density of the bone. While this occurs in both men and women, it's more common - and more noticeable - in women. One of the best ways to prevent this - in addition to taking supplemental calcium - is through a regular fitness routine.
As you reach 40 years of age, it becomes increasingly vital to start a regular exercise program. Retaining your bone mass (and thus your height) is only one benefit of exercise. Staying fit reduces your risk of developing any of a number of health problems associated with your cardiovascular system, diabetes and even cancer.
Before you set out on your new routine, you should make it a priority to choose an exercise or group of exercises that provide you with a sense of pleasure.
Don't jump on any exercise of fitness fad because it seems to be popular. Before you commit yourself, ask yourself what activities you could visualize yourself participating in for the rest of your life. If you actually enjoy the specific exercise, you're much more likely to continue with it faithfully.
Consider, though, some type of weight-bearing exercise. This type of activity helps build the strength of bones through the stimulation of the mineralization and remodeling process. Every major muscle in your body is attached to an underlying bone by tendons. Each time you contract a muscle, a force is exerted on that bone. Any activity, in fact, that builds muscle also places stress on your bone and helps to build bone mass.
While activities like yoga and tai chi build bone mass, one of the most widely known ways is through weight lifting. Now before you begin to form images in your head of what you believe the average weight lifter looks like, let us just add something. Weight lifting isn't necessarily the domain of just those testosterone-energized men out to out build their muscles. And if you decide to lift weights, you needn't worry about developing overstuffed muscles like the woman competitive lifters.
But, there are some outstanding - and astounding - benefits that accompany this particular exercise. Just read the results of this study conducted by Miriam Nelson, Ph.D. of Tufts University.
Dr. Nelson took two groups of post-menopausal women. Neither group was taking hormone replacement therapy nor was either group already enrolled in a fitness program at the start of the study.
One group remained sedentary, the other began a simple weight lifting program. They only exercised twice a week for 40 minutes at a time. At the end of one year, the woman who lifted weights had vastly improved results in their strength tests. In fact, their scores matched those of women in their late 30s and early 40s. And just about all the women lost inches from their body - if not weight - without changing their diets.
But the most delightful transformation in these women was seen in how they spent their free time. They were freed from the sedentary life they once lived. Some of these post menopausal women took up canoing... others began to go dancing on a regular basis... still others participated in in-line skating.
The bottom line is that there are few "fitness musts" for women over 40. In fact, the only real "must" in the fitness realm is to select an activity or two and keep on doing it. The more active you stay, the stronger your bones will be . . . the taller you'll stand for the rest of your long, healthy life!
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