Protecting Your Bones in Menopause Using a Weighted Vest

 00:00 Weight training strengthens bones post-menopause; estrogen declines.

05:27 Weighted vests improve posture and bone density.

08:33 Protein and balance enhance bone strength effectively.

09:51 Consider weighted vest, strength training, nutrition.

In this episode, you'll hear: 

1. Weighty Wisdom: Discover how a simple weighted vest can integrate into your daily life and help mimic weight-bearing exercises. It's a game-changer for those 30-minute walks or daily chores!
2. Nutritional Nuggets: We're dishing out the need-to-know on calcium, and our secret weapon, vitamin D, with a sprinkle of protein advice to keep those bones and muscles in harmony.
3. Balance Bliss: Put your instincts to the test—learn how everyday activities can double up as balance training sessions. Spoiler: it might involve your toothbrush and a one-foot stance!

Click here for the vest I have from Amazon. 

Transcript

0:00

Welcome back to the menopause method. My name is Cam Allen, and I'm your tour guide for everything menopause. Today, we are gonna talk about something that keeps you upright, and it's inside of you. You don't really see it, but it's certainly important. We're gonna talk about protecting your bones and menopause and offer simple solutions to help you stay strong and upright throughout the second half of life. Honestly, I haven't really thought much about my bones. I know a lot about strength training and keeping my muscles strong. And I help women do that all the time. But when it comes to bones, you don't like see what's going on inside. And maybe until it's too late, and you're like a hunched over lady carrying in your groceries. Recently, my mom told me she has shrunk 2 inches, 2 inches. That's significant. Like, I don't know if that's normal. She hasn't had her follow-up doctor's appointment yet. It got me thinking like, what am I doing to stay strong and upright other than strength training because that is one of the solutions. When I started to dive into the research and like, what does this, you know, what did the study say? Did you know that women can lose up to 20% of their bone density in the first five to 7 years after menopause? I'm sitting at year 6, and that's shocking to me. Like, what have I been doing other than strength training to stay strong and upright throughout the second half of life? So today, I'm gonna offer 2 solutions. 1 is resistance training, and I encourage you to check out episode number 3. I go into great detail about how to get started with strength training and how to build that firm foundation. So check out episode number 3. Today's episode is mostly gonna be focused on wearing a weighted vest. And if you're watching on YouTube, I actually have a weighted vest on today. It is a very simple solution to make your bones keep them strong throughout the second half of life. But let's go back to the research here for a second. Obviously, when we lose all this bone, we're at a greater risk for fractures, and those fractures tend to be in the spine, the hips, and the wrist. Those are places I don't wanna break. How about you? In fact, osteoporosis affects 1 in 2 women over 50. That is shocking to me, but here's the best news. We can slow this down or even reverse bone loss. These things are in your power. That's amazing. We lose about 1% per year during menopause. So by age 60, think about how many years you've lost your bones. We need to be actively lifting weights, and I suggest getting a weighted vest and doing something on purpose to keep your bones strong. Inside my programs, I write strength training programs, and I also write workouts that includes hopping and jumping, Not extreme, but like skipping, jumping jacks. Anytime you're bounding like that, that is another way to build strong bones in menopause. So why does this happen? Like, why do we get to menopause and like all this stuff happens? Well, let me tell you. It has to do with that good old hormone estrogen. So when you reach postmenopause, that's 1 year after your last period or in my case, I had surgical menopause, and I know there's listeners out there that went into chemical menopause because of breast cancer. So what that means is your estrogen reaches its lowest level and it stays there. Estrogen gets a really bad rap, but it's very protective. We have receptors all over our body and our brain. I bet you knew that about the brain, brain fog. It's real, isn't it? And when we lose or get to that lowest level of estrogen, your entire body feels it. There's no avoiding that. So the first solution for getting keeping your bone strong is resistance training. So what happens when you are resistance training, you're microstressing your bones to encourage them to rebuild stronger over time. So when you lift heavy loads, heavy for you, heavy for you loads, what's happening is you're causing stresses on your bones and that encourages them to grow back stronger in your rest or recovery between your workouts. Again, check out episode number 3, building physical strength in menopause, getting that firm foundation, and you'll understand more about it. Today's episode, I really wanna focus on this really simple solution of wearing a weighted vest. It's super simple. I have mine on if you're watching on YouTube. The thing about wearing a weighted vest is it just kind of blends into your life. So you can wear it while doing daily movements, and what happens is it's creating constant bone stimulation without needing to go to the gym or changing your clothes or getting sweaty or breathless. It's just kind of like part of your daily movement, but we're adding this weight on top of you. It mimics weight bearing exercises, making it great for, like, walking or doing housework chores or light exercises. So you may be thinking, like, how heavy should I get my best? Well, the general guidelines are start from 5 to 10% of your body weight to avoid that strain. So for example, if you weigh £150, that would be a 7 to a 15 pound vest. That's all you need. So it's not even crazy heavy. A few summers ago, I went backpacking, and our backpacks were£35. So it's not that. It's much lighter than that. Gradually increase your weight as your strength and your tolerance improves. When I first put the mind on, it felt heavy on my chest, and I've had it on for a while now. And honestly, I just don't even notice it. There was a study in 2020 that actually studied postmenopausal women wearing weighted vest, which I love. First of all, it was about us, and it was a study on us at this time of life. And what they did is they had a group of women wearing weighted vest for 30 minute walks 3 times a week, and then they had another group that just walked potty weight with no vest on. And when you know it, the group that was wearing the vest had better bone density, but also they had better posture. And I will say that, like, I'm aware that my shoulders need to be over my hips. Ears, shoulders, hips need to be lined up. I've got this weight on me. There is some weight in the front and then the back. I'll actually link in the notes exactly the one I got from Amazon. It was super affordable. But you can tell that my posture like, I don't wanna be hunched over. I wanna be more upright. So that's the guideline. 5 to 10% of your body weight. You know, that's where I would start as far as how heavy should this vest be. Next, how do you start wearing this vest? I would encourage you to wear it for short periods of time, maybe 15, 20 minutes. You know, wear it around your house while you're walking, while you're doing chores. I actually wore mine yesterday when I was vacuuming up puppy hair. We have 2 new puppies that have a lot of hair. So I'm like, okay. I'll try vacuuming with this on, and it worked out just fine. Once you're comfortable wearing it like that, then I would encourage you to, like, at start admit to your daily walks. So this will help with your bone density. It will also help with your cardiovascular health. Go ahead and start wearing it on your walks. Now let's be smart. Let's build our tolerance. Maybe wear it for part of your walk or, you know, something like that, but build up your endurance when it comes to that. And then once you feel good, then then you can actually wear it while you're actually working out. You could do bodyweight exercises with it like squats or lunges or step ups. Use your steps and do some, you know, go up and down your steps with it on. Or if you're really brave, try push ups. You could do them on your kitchen counter, on your desk, or on your coffee table in your family room. But try it and see how you feel. So once you've got that done, then it comes down to consistency. So try to wear your vest 2 to 3 times a week and you will notice benefit you will notice benefits over time. So it's a consistency thing. Knowing that wearing your vest is actually helping something on the inside that we cannot see, keep you strong and healthy. Okay. One little extra thing here. So if we're doing this, we also need to make sure our nutrition is dialed in. As far as calcium goes, we need about 1200 milligrams a day. Food sources include leafy greens and dairy and fortified foods. But actually, vitamin d is one of the secret weapons. It is essential for the calcium to actually absorb and get into your bones. So d 3 with k 2 is one of the supplements I suggest that most women in menopause take. So we've got our calcium and we've got our vitamin d, and then guess what? It's time for some protein. Protein supports your muscle and your bone strength. My suggestion would be to target 30 grams of protein per meal. So if you had 3 meals, you're already at 90 grams, and then you add some collagen in there or have a snack of Greek yogurt or something like that, and you'll be well over a hundred. Other elements of fitness that fall into this bone density is practicing your balance and your stability. So while you're brushing your teeth, practice standing on one foot and try it with your vest on once you feel secure. So incorporate stretching and yoga and things like that. Practice balance training should prevent those falls. There are 2 things I need to mention as far as bone depleting habits, and one of those is alcohol. Limiting your alcohol will help with your bone density. And this last one is also caffeine. Caffeine can hinder the calcium being absorbed into your bones. So those are some nutrition things to consider. To sum it up here, in order to keep our bones strong and keep us upright and healthy, add resistance training to your fitness routine. I suggest if you're in menopause twice a week, full body exercises takes about 30 to 45 minutes, Heavy for you. Again, check out episode 3 for more details. And then I would highly consider adding a weighted vest to your life. You add some strength training, you add a weighted vest, and you dial in your nutrition, and you're gonna stay strong and upright for a really long time. To learn more ways that you and I can work together, check out my website, camoyler.com. It'll be linked in the show notes. Otherwise, I'll see you next week, and let's keep our bones strong and healthy for a long time.