Wolff’s law: And Minimalist Fitness
“That Boy needs some milk!!!!”
One of my Marine Sergeants would say after witnessing someone get injured.
Bone strength is important for avoiding injury, especially as we age. I believe maintaining it is simple: just walk. The fitness industry has all these gadgets and pills to sell but the most effective thing we can do for
Mental Clarity
Fat Loss
Lung Health
& Bone Density
..is walking. Do this enough and you can do it well into old age as I’ve seen in Okinawa Japan.
Although most of them have vehicles, the layout of its urban areas and those of mainland Japan support foot traffic. On your way to or from work as well as just cruising on the weekends, you’ll see all ages trekking up and down the sidewalk to a nearby store.
Putting your feet, one in front of the other day after day and for long distances, is a fountain of youth.
If you want stronger bones then there’s always the option of throwing on a backpack with some weights in it.
But calisthenics, resistance bands, and overcoming isometrics will help you not only maintain but improve your bone density. High levels of stress on the bones aren’t necessary. Because if walking can improve bone density, regular push-ups will be just fine.
For those who want bones that are above average, I also wouldn’t doubt the capabilities of plyometric push-ups and squats to do the same thing.
At the end of the day, if you move consistently, or with force your bones will be taken care of.
However, in the above video, which I posted to multiple online locations I stated that contraction isometrics would not fulfill Wolff’s law. Well… someone checked me…
…and I double-checked my research…
I made a mistake. I was wrong…
Now that I think of it I read somewhere an author talking about how muscles receiving too much of an electrical stimulus were able to break the bone. This specific author can write in a little bit of a hyperbolic fashion but it’s more for entertainment purposes so I wasn’t sure what to make of it at the time(As I am sure this is how some of yall might read my stuff…see…I’m self-aware). But it turns out that muscle stimulation can go some way toward maintaining bone density or increasing it.
LMHF stands for Low-magnitude, high-frequency stimuli. Think of it as very light burst reps (1-2 second contractions) with isometrics. Nothing completely relaxed but not going all out. Pulsing the muscle for minutes at a time. Doing this in sheep through electrical stimulation they were able to increase their bone density in a year. If this can be achieved with low magnitude high frequency, I wonder what could be achieved with high magnitude low frequency through our efforts?
This means that there is likely a benefit to contraction isometrics for a few minutes a day at higher intensities of contraction. If this is true, and I’ll do some more digging, that means our bodies might be more amazing than I previously thought. I’ll have to become more relenting with my message…
I’ve been combing through some other texts recently this one being from India in the 1930s. These men lifted weights and practiced contraction isometrics. I’ll let you know when I’m finished. Flexing muscle(by itself) is a natural thing for humans to do. Do it right history has shown us time and time again that great performance and development can be reached through it.
Self-generated muscle contractions to strengthen our bones. What do yall think of this?
So to conclude this article, just do something. Get off the couch get moving, exerting, or sweating a little to better prepare for the future.
Thank you for stopping by and spending a few minutes out of your day.
Take care…