The Benefits of Weight-Bearing Exercise and Why You Need Them in Your Program
Whenever I walk into a gym, there’s one thing that sticks out like a sore thumb: the number of machines.
Gym sales reps typically use more machines as a selling point. But endless rows of machines can be a red flag in my book.
The reason? Most machines require the exerciser to sit or lie down. This removes the need for them to maintain balance and stability. Put another way, it shuts off many of the muscles we use daily in all activities.
Weight-bearing exercises provide a more beneficial stimulus to the body. For many, they are essential to improving and maintaining function.
What is Weight-Bearing Exercise?
Weight-bearing exercises consist of any activity requiring you to support your body weight. This forces the entire body...muscles, bones, connective tissues...to do the jobs they were designed to do.
Examples of weight-bearing exercises include...
Walking and running
Squats
Lunges
Stair Climbing
Yoga
Tai Chi
You can perform weight-bearing exercises in many ways and at varying levels of intensity. Some exercises may involve higher levels of impact (running, jumping, etc.) while others may be low impact (walking, squatting, etc.).
Non-weight-bearing exercises do have their time and place. But whenever possible, choose weight-bearing activities for more effective training. The exercises that are appropriate for you will depend on your unique needs and goals.
The Benefits of Weight-Bearing Exercises vs. Machines
Improved Bone Strength and Health
Weight-bearing exercises load the bones of the lower body, including the legs, hips, and low back in ways that sitting down on a bench-press or biceps-curl machine won’t.
This loading provides the stimulation needed to develop strong and healthy bones. Also, the contraction of the lower body muscles places added stress on the bones through the tendons that connect them.
Better Cardiovascular Function
Exercises that require you to support your body weight can also provide benefits to your cardiovascular health.
Weight-bearing activities inherently require more muscles to work. These muscles require more blood during exercise, which further stimulates the cardiovascular and circulatory systems. This essentially exercises the heart muscle, making it stronger and more efficient.
Better Balance, Stability, and Posture
Many of the machines I see at gyms force people into positions that can encourage poor posture. Also, by eliminating the need to maintain your body’s balance, the overuse of seated machines can negatively impact stability.
Coupled with weaker bones, poor balance and stability can increase the risk of fractures, which is especially dangerous for older adults and those with existing mobility issues. Falling can lead to debilitating injuries and contribute to other health problems resulting from the loss of mobility and function.
Who Should Use Weight-Bearing Exercises?
Weight-bearing exercises are strongly recommended for individuals with osteoporosis. The progressive loss of bone density can occur in both women and men. But women face a higher risk due to the decrease in estrogen, which protects bones, that occurs in their later years.
Also, starting an exercise program early in life can have a greater positive impact on bone density as you age. So weight-bearing exercises should be encouraged among young adults, especially women, to reduce the risk of osteoporosis.
Emphasizing the use of weight-bearing exercises in older adults (according to what’s appropriate for their health history and medical conditions) can help them improve and maintain function while decreasing the many risks that come with aging.
A 2014 study published in the Journal of Family & Community Medicine found that weight-bearing exercise resulted in greater improvement in the medical treatment of elderly patients with osteoporosis. Researchers noted a significant increase in the bone mineral density of the spine, hips, and wrists (the three sites commonly affected by osteoporosis).1
Ultimately, weight-bearing exercises can be more beneficial for all people when compared to non-weight-bearing exercises.
This isn’t to say that the use of machines and other non-weight-bearing activities is never beneficial.
There are many situations where the use of seated machines might be more appropriate. For example, a machine can isolate joints and muscle groups during the rehabilitation process after an injury or surgery.
Also, bodybuilders and fitness competitors might use machine-based training to focus on a specific muscle or muscle group to create the physical symmetry and proportions they need.
If a person has mobility issues related to a medical condition, such as Parkinson’s, dementia, or stroke, then non-weight-bearing exercises can offer a safer way to achieve functional and fitness goals.
The best approach is to incorporate weight-bearing exercises as much as possible to incorporate all of the muscle groups and train them to work in a more integrated way.
The benefits of weight-bearing exercise can help individuals at all levels and with a wide range of goals achieve the positive functional and fitness outcomes they’re looking for.
Darwin Ruiz helps individuals use exercise and lifestyle changes to manage chronic health conditions and improve function in their daily activities. If you want to find out if Medical Exercise and Lifestyle Coaching is right for your needs, schedule a complimentary consultation call today.
References
(1) Shanb AA, Youssef EF. The impact of adding weight-bearing exercise versus nonweight bearing programs to the medical treatment of elderly patients with osteoporosis. J Family Community Med. 2014 Sep;21(3):176-81. doi: 10.4103/2230-8229.142972. PMID: 25374469; PMCID: PMC4214007.