It’s no secret that different sports impact our bodies in different ways. Sports like tennis and golf are hard on our shoulders and elbows, and basketball players are no strangers to knee injuries, but what about running? Distance running is harder on our bones than many other sports because the continual pounding takes its toll on our bodies. So, how can we look after ourselves to stay healthy in the long run? We sat down with sports scientist and VIS Expert, Dr. Gauri Desai, MSc, PhD, and Registered Dietitian, Brooke Czarnecki, RDN, LD, to see what’s going on in our body with every step we take.
Why We Need Impact
Let’s start by explaining what we mean by impact. We tend to think about our bones as these rigid things that don’t have lives of their own, but that’s simply not the case. “The bone is an active tissue,” Desai says. “It is active metabolically and is sensitive to impact and load. So whenever we talk about impact we are talking about stress on the bone.”
This stress occurs in two ways. The first is by impact on the ground, which then loads our bones. The second is by muscle forces. By this, Desai explains that we move by creating muscle force. Our muscles attach to our bones through tendons causing loading with each movement. These stresses cause our bones to ever-so-slightly break down.
Both forms of stress are beneficial, as our bones have sensory receptors that note how much deformation is happening within them. This then causes more nutrients to be sent to the bones, which in turn strengthens them. Problems may occur when our body is unable to adapt to the stress. Instead of building the nutrients back up, we continue to lose more. This happens either when our bones break down too quickly, our body isn’t ready for the deformation, or our bodies have a sub-optimal metabolic environment.
Desai says there are small things we can do to strengthen our bones to make sure they stay healthy.
Staying on Top of Stress
1. Arguably the most important thing we can do to ensure our bones can handle stress is sleep. Making sure we are getting enough quality sleep is good for all aspects of our health, including bone health. When we are asleep, special bone cells called osteocytes aid with calcium levels in the bone and overall recovery from daily stress.
2. Tracking our menstrual cycle is a small but important step in autonomy over our health. If we notice that our periods become irregular or even disappear, it could be a sign that something is wrong.
“A lot of times these things go undetected and that's where the problems come up,” Desai says. “So I'm not saying sit like a hawk and be like “well, what's my cycle looking like today?” but regularly try to log it, track it. I think that's a pretty powerful tool for us to also get to know our bodies better.”
“You need a well-built structure, which comes from strong muscles, and strong bones. And where is all of that going to come from? It's going to come from good fueling strategies. It's going to come from sleep.”
3. Desai suggests diversifying our physical activity profile.
Bones become susceptible to injuries when continually loaded in the same direction over and over again. With running, we only load our bones in one direction, and the benefit plateaus after a few miles.
If we want to strengthen our bones in all directions, we need to load them in all directions.
“That loading will come from sports that challenge you in different ways,” Desai says. “We always recommend, don’t specialize too early. If you are an adolescent, continue to play soccer, basketball or any other sport you enjoy. That's one of the biggest protective factors against bone stress injury, those who engage in these multidirectional sports tend to stay healthier.”
But if we don’t have the time or energy to play other sports, there are other options too.
“It doesn't have to be spending two hours in addition to your running out on a soccer field, it can just be spending another additional 15 minutes in the gym either lifting heavy or jumping,” she says.
Going to the gym and lifting heavy loads the bone through muscle forces, which stimulate growth. Doing plyometric exercises, such as box or depth jumps, also trigger growth through muscle forces, especially when done multi-directionally.
4. Desai says nutrition is key. We need to be eating enough to allow our bodies to function the way we need.
VIS Expert and Registered Dietitian, Brooke Czarnecki, RDN, LD, says that once we establish eating enough food we can then focus on getting all the nutrients.
“We need to ensure you are then eating enough carbohydrates to fuel your activities,” Czarnecki says. “Addressing nutritional deficiencies such as vitamin D, magnesium and iron is also important in encouraging healthy bones.”
Low energy availability is a leading cause of bone stress injuries, and nutrition lies at the heart of it all. Czarnecki suggests seeing a registered dietitian if it is difficult to get all the nutrients you need.
Desai says the perception of self is also a huge factor in low energy availability. “This is not just an individual problem,” she says. “It's a societal problem. We have always told women athletes, you need to look a certain way and that leads to eating disorders.” This adds to the problem of bone stress injuries since we may begin a pursuit of leanness - since we believe runners need to be so.
“The leanness comes from the fact that you're running so much, but it's not something that you need to be able to run that much,” Desai says. “You need a well-built structure, which comes from strong muscles, and strong bones. And where is all of that going to come from? It's going to come from good fueling strategies. It's going to come from sleep.”
Looking after our bones is key to long-term success in the sport. By following Desai and Czarnecki’s advice, we can ensure we are in it for the long run.
