I made a video the other week and posted it to multiple online locations. You can improve your bone density by either calisthenics/bodyweight exercise or overcoming isometrics aka exerting force on an immovable object.
When I got to the point in the video that I was talking about static muscle contraction I said that this form of training wouldn’t have the same benefits as calisthenics or overcoming isometrics. Well… someone checked me…
I made a mistake. I was wrong…
Now that I think of it I read somewhere an author talking about how muscles receiving too much of an electrical stimulus were able to break the bone. This specific author can write in a little bit of a hyperbolic fashion but it’s more for entertainment purposes so I wasn’t sure what to make of it at the time(As I am sure this is how some of yall might read my stuff…see…I’m self-aware). But it turns out that muscle stimulation can go some way toward maintaining bone density or increasing it1.
LMHF stands for Low-magnitude, high-frequency stimuli. Think of it as very light burst reps (1-2 second contractions) with isometrics. Nothing completely relaxed but not going all out. Pulsing the muscle for minutes at a time. Doing this in sheep through electrical stimulation they were able to increase their bone density in a year. If this can be achieved with low magnitude high frequency, I wonder what could be achieved with high magnitude low frequency through our efforts?
This means that there is likely a benefit to contraction isometrics for a few minutes a day at higher intensities of contraction. If this is true, and I’ll do some more digging, that means our bodies might be more amazing than I previously thought. I’ll have to become more relenting with my message…
I’ve been combing through some other texts recently this one being from India in the 1930s. These men lifted weights and practiced contraction isometrics. I’ll let you know when I’m finished. Flexing muscle(by itself) is a natural thing for humans to do. Do it right history has shown us time and time again that great performance and development can be reached through it.
Self-generated muscle contractions to strengthen our bones. What do yall think of this?
Found my new favorite movie. Watched this with my Father the other week and I hadn’t seen it before. Expect to see plenty of gifs in the near future related to this film.
Biomechanical Aspects of the Muscle-Bone Interaction
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4306629/#:~:text=During%20impact%20loading%2C%20muscle%20appears,strength%20%5B75%E2%80%9378%5D
Well, I love reading these posts even though i am still sitting here and the only exercise I get is with typing and my mouse hand! I love reading these posts and they inspire me to try a little before they find my carcass stuck to this chair. Dr. Strangelove is one of the best! Your byline is great :D Yup... those are all reasons why I subscribe and enjoy your posts. You're always learning, and I learn here. Am doing some backward walking to help my psoas and it helps.