Bone Health For Runners
As you all seemed to enjoy last week’s The worst pieces of running advice I’ve ever heard (and I enjoyed finding appropriate Golden Girls memes), I thought today I would zoom in a bit on one of the biggest and most repeat offenders, the idea that running is bad for your bones. Like I said briefly in that post- erm no, it isn’t. But there are definitely things we as runners need to know and do to make sure we’re looking after our bones so we can keep running until we’re as old as Sophia…
I’m sure we all already know that bone health is a crucial aspect of a runner's overall well-being. There are over 200 bones in our body comprising of one fifth of our body weight and bones have some prettttty important functions- protecting vital organs, providing support, helping us move, storing minerals and producing blood cells. You know, that sort of things.
And of course our bones come in all shapes and sizes, they include long bones in our limbs that allow movements of our arms and legs and smaller blocks of bone in our spine, hands and feet that are designed to allow for flexibility and support.
Each bone is the perfect shape, mass, and density to withstand the loads it normally experiences in day-to-day life- no more and no less. This means our skeleton is as strong as it needs to be for regular activities whilst still weighing the least it can.
Sometimes it’s easier to forget (possibly because we associate them with that skeleton in the corner of our biology classroom) that bone is a living tissue; it’s packed with cells and has an extensive blood and nerve supply which is vital for keeping bone tissue healthy. Bone cells can repair micro-damage that occurs from normal wear and tear to prevent fractures.
It also has a very high tolerance to overload- but it’s really important to remember that resilient though it is, sometimes the demand of too much hard, repetitive training & racing can outstrip the capacity of bone adaptation.
Bone stress injuries describe a number of painful conditions that can occur from prolonged repetitive loading. Bone stress injuries range from inflammation of the periosteum (a membrane that covers the outer surface of all bones) to inflammation of the bone itself, to the development of actual cracks within the bone (stress fractures).
This process can occur over a few days if highly intense loading is experienced, but more commonly it occurs over time. Bone is a Goldilocks tissue, there needs to be a balance somewhere in between the extremes of not enough running and too much!
To see what happens without exercise think about what happens to bone when it is unloaded for periods of time i.e. when a limb is immobilised in a plaster cast. At these times, bone rapidly loses mass.
As runners we can reduce our risk of injury and actually improve our bone health by following adaptive training plans combined with proper nutrition and cross training that are designed to stimulate, strengthen, and maintain bone density (yes Dave down the pub, even on pavement!).
Adequate intake of Calcium and Vitamin D is also vital, as these nutrients contribute to the development and maintenance of strong bones. Sadly (and I know it’s boring but the things that work usually are) too much caffeine, salt and alcohol are bad for bone health.
And on that fun note, I’ll love you and leave you with the top 4 things I ALWAYS make sure people I’m training know and factor in:
A well-balanced diet with adequate protein for the health of all connective tissues (including our good friends Calcium and Vitamin D, excluding too many cappuccinos).
Understand how Oestrogen is crucial in bone development especially for female athletes as bone density declines in perimenopause/post menopause. This really is where regular strength training becomes an essential part of keeping us running.
Being aware that not having a menstrual period may indicate that a female athlete’s oestrogen levels are low, if this is the case their bones may become weaker and more susceptible to stress fractures.
When constructing training plans, encouraging high impact and resistance training sessions.