Dem bones - the big O, no not That o

[mimitabby]

A couple weeks ago my doctor told me that the bone on my hips was very close to being frail enough to be in the osteoporosis zone... Still osteopenia but JUST barely.
She told me to take vitamins, 1200 calcium, 500 vit d, b vitamins and boron.
Calcium Citrate is the best calcium, but i digress.
She also told me i have to do weight bearing exercise.
I started 20 minutes of going up and down stairs every day that i am at work.
10 minutes twice a day. I was already walking a mile a day.

Today I went to the company gym for the first time. it costs 25 dollars a month and they have everything except a pool.
A nice 20 something taught me how to do 4 exercises with bar-bells (including bicep curls) and one with a ball.

Unfortunately the gym is 95% men. That's 30 men and me. UGH! when I was in my 30's it was bad enough, but now i'm 55 and it's much worse.
hopefully the times i will be going it won't be too crowded.

So here I go on the exercise program.

She said "DON'T stop riding your bike!"

[IFjane]

Mimi - I had the same situation a few years ago - joining a gym and finding that there were no other women.

This year I bought the Graeme Street Cyclo Core & Cyclo Zen DVD's & am using his exercises. Some include hand weights (I'm using 10 lb. ones) & the ball. Others are just using your own body weight.

If the gym gets too uncomfortable for you maybe you could try something like that?

Good luck! -jane

[IFjane]

Addendum:

some of his workouts are BRUTAL so I'm not doing all of them....

[mimitabby]

I'll try the gym for a bit for the free consultations... and I'm paid for a month now.

[chickwhorips]

good luck mimi. try not to think of them while your there. most everyone is worried about how they look and not you.

glad she said to keep riding!

[ClockworkOrange]

Coooooooo Mimi, don't jump up and down too much, 'cos you might just rattle!

Just keep taking the tablets............and riding that bike. Yup, getting older can be a real bummer, your not alone kiddo.




Sally

[DebW]

Mimi, how do they know the calcium state of your bones? My doctor suggest a bone density test a couple years ago but I didn't follow up. What do they actually test for and how?

[mimitabby]

I did a full torso bone density test.
I laid down and extra low xrays zapped me. So low that the tech didn't wear a lead apron.
Then they analyzed them and two readings were taking. spinal and hip bone density. and there's a scale, normal, osteopena, osteoporosis. if your insurance will pay for this I highly recommend it.
it only took a couple minutes.

I've also had the heel test, where you stick your heel in a machine and it measures the density of the bone there. but it's not as accurate because it's not measuring the places where you usually have problems.

[Crankin]

Deb, have the bone density test!! I can't think of any reason not to. I found out I had osteopenia almost 6 yrs. ago, right about the time I was a new rider. I had been doing weight bearing exercise for years, but I have all the other risk factors: thin, white, family history. I tried Fosomax and it made me REALLy ill. I've been taking calcium supplements for over 20 years, too, but I hate milk, always have. So this year, after losing 4% of my bone mass since 2004, my doc put me on Evista and said to take Tums 3x a day. I will get checked again in September. She goes to my gym, so she knows what i do; but she said if i left it untreated, in 10 years if I had a bike crash, I could be permanantly disabled (you know, like those old ladies who never recover from a hip fracture?). This was about a week after my crash at the beginning of January, so now i am seriously listening. Doing my Graham Street core/weight work religiously and trying to hike a little more.

Mimi, how long did you commit to at your gym? Go look at some coe-ed ones! My gym is nothing like you describe.

[Bikingmomof3]

Good luck Mimi! I use free weights at home and my own body weight for resistance. I am not a gym person. I tried to like going to a gym, I really tried.

[spokewench]

Unfortunately the gym is 95% men. That's 30 men and me. UGH! when I was in my 30's it was bad enough, but now i'm 55 and it's much worse.
hopefully the times i will be going it won't be too crowded.

So here I go on the exercise program.

She said "DON'T stop riding your bike!"

Mimi: Look on the bright side. Are any of the guys good looking? Sometimes it's just fun looking! And, maybe, once you strike up a conversation, the guys will adopt you and make you their special project. Long time ago, I worked out in that sort of gym, and after a little chatting up, the boys were more than helpful.

[mimitabby]

i am only committed monthly. it's right where i work, my company owns the gym . There are 7:1 men to women that work here!!!!
If I have to drive very far, i guarantee i won't do it. So let me just try it with all these hairybacked men and see if I can stand it.

Deb, my grandmother had her hip replaced after a fall when she was 88. She got up and walked again even though she had O. but it's certainly NOT something to mess around with.

[five one]

I asked about a bone density test at my physical a year or so ago, since I was finally in menopause. Apparently my HMO (Kaiser) doesn't do them until age 60 unless there is family history. I don't have any history, but I would like to have a baseline before any damage shows up. Maybe I'll be a bit more insistent next time. I don't want to wait another five years. *Stomps foot*

My boss's mother is completely disabled from osteoporosis at age 80. Her spine has been slowly collapsing for years and she has a permanent morphine pump for the constant and severe pain she is in. I will do anything to avoid a terrible situation like that. Wish cycling were weight bearing. That would make things so much easier for me.

[mimitabby]

My boss's mother is completely disabled from osteoporosis at age 80. Her spine has been slowly collapsing for years and she has a permanent morphine pump for the constant and severe pain she is in. I will do anything to avoid a terrible situation like that. Wish cycling were weight bearing. That would make things so much easier for me.

wow, that's terrible.
Yes, it would make things so much easier for a lot of us if biking was considered weight bearing!

[hellosunshine]

my T score,whatever that is is -2.9 so theyve put me on the pill too,thats meant to help,im nearly 40.ive done weight for the last 3years,but more so and im always running up and down the stairs,think i walk the dog 1hr 20 a day too.loadsa milk etc etc..i believe its a condition we can HALT,this is good news.