I found yet a new place to produce a healthier body — this time through strengthening your bones. Did you know your bones start to go as you age? My lower back and neck are letting me know every day.
It’s another thing I have to worry about, including gaining weight, losing muscle, growing facial hair, getting grey. Hell, sometimes I don’t even want to get out of bed.
It’s not your usual “sweat-your-ass-off, power-whatever,” but man, it proved to be very effective. And it only takes 10 minutes, once a week. Yeah, right, I said when I first started going.
They were offering free sessions as a ploy to get people in. And since it took only 10 minutes, and I lived walking distance to the place, I figured that even if it was BS, I could handle a total of 10 minutes of it.
It turns out that this method is very popular with professional athletes to help heal injuries and build strength. Good for the pros, good for aging ladies. I’m motivated to go just for a glimpse of those hotties.
OK, back to the session. I first went on a vibration machine to warm up my body and build balance. Not the kind of vibrator some might be thinking, although there is a place for them in one’s life.
This was a small platform that you stepped up on and made your whole body vibrate. I was very self-conscious at first; I thought everyone in the joint could see my fat jiggling, kind of like those fat reducing belts that were in health clubs in the 70s. Even my cheeks were jiggling; not just my butt cheeks. My face felt like it was flapping from side-to-side.
After that stimulating experience, I was guided to several machines. Each worked a different part of the body. This is the actual ten minutes of bone strengthening. It’s form of resistance training and by working up to the point of exhaustion with in a few seconds you can build bone strength very quickly.
After several sessions, I discovered that I was much stronger in my yoga class, and could wheel a large suitcase the “almost 20 miles” it takes to get through a crowded Las Vegas Casino to arrive at the bank of elevators to your room, without one complaint or stopping to rest!
That’s real progress.
The process is called Osteogenic Loading. It is quick, and mostly painless, but you do have to put some real effort into it — for about 5 seconds. Even I can do that.
P.S — if you want to try it, e-mail me. Barbara.bishop@bbprinc.com. A toast to our bones!