The Incredible Shrinking Woman | Women

By JoLarsen
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Do you remember getting taller and taller as you reached adulthood?

Suddenly, even though you stopped growing, you kept getting taller and taller over them. What happened?

The fact is that your female relatives may very well have lost several inches in height. They could, indeed, be shrinking . . .

The medical community used to think that on average, a woman would lose between 2 1/2 and eight inches of her height in her late adulthood. Now medical experts are realizing that it can be prevented.

This shrinking is attributed to osteoporosis, which is a lessening of the density of the bone. Although both men and women have the same issues, it is more of a problem for women. The two best ways to prevent it from affecting you is to take supplemental calcium and have 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.

Whatever you exercise you choose, you should also incorporate some form of weight training. This will help to keep your bones strong by stimulation of the mineralization and remodelling process. Since every major muscle is attached to the bones by tendons, whenever these muscles contract, the force that is exerted on that bone will help build bone mass.

While activities like yoga and t'ai 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 outbuild their muscles. And if you decide to lift weights, you needn't worry about developing overstuffed muscles like the woman competitive lifters.

The results of this study conducted by Miriam Nelson, Ph.D. of Tufts University will give you a good idea of what an amazing impact this exercise can have on your body and your life.

Dr. Nelson studied two groups of post-menopausal women. They were not taking hormone replacement therapy or doing any regular exercise at the start of the study.

The two groups were separated into those who remained sedentary and those who began a simple weight lifting program, for 40 minutes - twice a week. Everything else remained the same. At the end of one year, the results were quite remarkable. Those who were doing the basic weight lifting had lost inches, lost weight and had vastly improved strength tests. In fact, their results matched scores of women who were much younger.

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 postmenopausal women took up canoeing . . . others began to go dancing on a regular basis . . . still others participated in in-line skating.

The more on the go you are, the stronger your bones will stay and ultimately, the taller you will stay for the rest of your long, healthy life! There are few "fitness musts" for women over 40 years of age but the only real "must" is to chose an activity or two that you enjoy doing and just keep on doing it.

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