Thin bones solution?

Factual Questions
1

I while back I was diagnosed by one of those portable bone-checking devices as to my bone thickness, and thery said I as a little bit above osteopenia, which is rather uncommon, I suspect, for 21-yo men.

As it as, I did everything they suggested (drink milk, avoid soda, etc) save one: I wasn’t excercising a lot. I’ve been doing that a lot for the last months, since it pretty much was all I could do.

Anyway, does anyone else have some tips or suggestions for me? I’ve never broken a bone - in fact, the worst injury I ever had was a sprained ankle a couple of times (same one, i think I weakened it in childhood). I don’t want to have thin bones!

2

Powerlifters as a group tend to have very high bone densities. Heavy weight-bearing exercises are the way to go.

3

And just who was the licensed, accredited, and competent osteologist who used this “device” on you?

4

It was at a University health-day thing. They gave people free BMI’s, blood tests for a couple of things, information on keeping fit and healthy, and bone screenings.

The machine required you to take you socks off and they’d stick a paper sheet with a little clear gel on it. Then you stuck your foot into a boot, [after this, its speculation]which then ran a very small electric current through your ankle. The resistance, I think, tells them how thick your bones are.[/end speculation] It printed out a measurement on paper. I believe the staff were nurses from the University Hospital.

That doesn’t mean they weren’t wrong, but I figure better safe than sorry, right?

I have been doing arm crunches with weights. I don’t really have any leg-weight equipment, nor anywhere to put it, so I haven’t done any of that. I igure the lifting will build muscle mass, bone, and reduce fat.

5

Not that kind of lifting. Have a look at the bone-building workout.

6

I wouldn’t put a lot of faith in that test. The only ways I know of to measure bone density in the foot is with either ultrasound or a single-energy x-ray. Both are used for screening, neither will give a definitive diagnosis. If you’re concerned you should get a dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan of your hip or spine.

7

Thank you both. I will check with a doctor when I get some insurance, and work out with some of those excercises in the meantime. I want to get into better shape and build muscle anyway, so this is simply another route to the goal line.