Osteopenia

[KnottedYet]

magnesium and zinc.
And vit D, of course.

If you have calcium going into your gut, the ultimate source doesn't matter as long as you are absorbing it. If you can't eat dairy (like so many folks) then go for other high calcium foods or supplements. Ca ions are Ca ions, regardless of whether they come in a pill or in a cheese sandwich.

The associated nutrients in the cheese sandwich are much more exciting than what generally comes in a calcium citrate/vit D/magnesium/zinc pill, which is why most labels I've seen say you are best off taking the pill with a meal. (better absorption)

Zen - just jump. whenever you want. There are some great force-line xrays of hip joints (the head of the femur) that show the different deposition patterns of bones subjected to impact vs bones that aren't. Jump, girl, jump! Get a jump rope, jog, whatever. Get those bones used to impact and depositing calcium where they need the extra buttressing, so that someday when you miss a curb your femur says, "No problem, I touch down like this at least 50 times a day" instead of "OMFG! Impact! I can't handle this! <snap!>" I've talked with lots of folks who swear their hip broke BEFORE they fell. The break caused the fall, not vice versa.

[Tuckervill]

My PT-friend/gym owner/fitness guru swears by jumping-jacks as the perfect exercise. I can do 200.

Karen

[Crankin]

You know, when I was teaching fitness classes, I eventually stopped doing regular jumping jacks. Why? Because all of a sudden, we started seeing lots of back and hip injuries from the repetitive stress of all of the jumping jacks and running. I always did alternating leg jacks after that. I think it was something like 7x your body weight for full impact jacks and 3x for alternate leg ones.
So, it's sort of like, what do I do? Deal with the pain of injury to my bones from the high impact stuff, or deal with the risk of fracture?
I'm thinking of restarting some easy running again, despite the fact my hip is still hurting. Yesterday I did 3 3 minute intervals of running at a 10:30 pace, with no ill effects. Already doing the superman exercise and lots of other weight bearing/core stuff.
Still waiting to get the final word from the doc about the meds.

[tulip]

I don't like jumping jacks because they hurt my knees. Perhaps I don't do them properly. However, I really like the idea of jumping rope. I'm also thinking of painting a hop-scotch grid on my driveway (behind the privacy fence!). That would do the trick, and be fun, too.

[Tuckervill]

I had to work up to 200 JJs. My knees couldn't take it either, and I baby my knees so I would stop as soon as they felt tired. But, eventually I just kept going and it's fine. I'm working up to 6 minutes on the jump rope. Cardio wise I can do it, but the knees and lower legs get tired and I start to make mistakes which lead to tweaks in this or that ligament or tendon, and soreness. So I'm working up slowly.

My knees are better off when I use them, even the jumping and etc. I just don't do too much.

Karen

[solobiker]

Thanks Knott!! I remembered once you responded to my post. I think it has to be a 2:1 ratio with the magnesium and calcium...but then again I could just be making that up.