Playing with your kids or grandkids, going on walks with friends, avoiding fractures, storing calcium and protecting your vital organs: These are all reasons it’s important to protect your bone health as much as possible.
Further, bone health becomes increasingly threatened as we age — and earlier than you might think. Studies have shown that bone loss begins between the ages of 30 and 40, and menopause is an exacerbating factor due to the hormonal changes it causes.
To support your bone health, you might incorporate certain nutrients into your diet, like vitamin D and calcium. You might engage in weight-bearing exercises, such as jogging, dancing or pickleball. You might have purchased some small and simple exercise equipment that helps build bone density, such as a weighted vest, dumbbells or resistance bands.
Climbing the stairs is another exercise that benefits bone density by forcing your body to resist gravity and by strengthening your leg and hip muscles. To make that more effective, consider pounding the stairs.
“Some social media posts are promoting ‘pounding the stairs’ as a bone-building trend,” said Dr. Nicholas Callahan, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon at the Cleveland Hip and Knee Institute. “In most cases, they seem to mean intentionally stomping or striking the foot harder than normal on each step while going up and down stairs to increase impact/force.”
