Ep.63 Got Buff Bones? The Science of Strength and Movement to Protect Our Bones

If you follow the podcast on social media, you may already know that I had a recent osteoporosis diagnosis.  I felt dismissed as the doctor prescribed a pharmaceutical, told me to increase my calcium and vitamin D, and they would see me back in two years.  Really?  That just wasn't good enough, so I went on my own search for answers.

I am happy to report that there are professionals out there, like this episode's guest, who are reliable resources to guide you with an effective holistic approach to bone health, strength, and mobility.   As I have said before, I am not anti-pharmaceutical, but we owe it to ourselves to do the research to ensure that we are making the most educated decisions possible.

Rebekah Rotstein was diagnosed with osteoporosis in her twenties.  A former ballet dancer, she has used her love of movement and her pilates instructor experience to develop the Buff Bones program, where she certifies other exercise professionals and works with individuals to help them along in their healthier bones journey.

In this episode Rebekah Rotstein and I discuss:

- Rebekah's own diagnosis and her decision to not go on a pharmaceutical in her twenties and why some young people and men may have poor bone health
- How her education, dance, and pilates background catapulted her into training other fitness professionals and working with clients on their whole bone health journey
- The process with which she works with clients and how breathwork is an important foundation
- The most common fracture for midlife women (and it's not the hip)
- Incorporating mobility and progressive load strength training (for those who are able)
- Tendon injury being more prevalent in midlife with the decrease in estrogen
- The importance of having good balance and core strength in midlife and beyond
- Why walking is not enough to build your bones and some options that you can add to your walking routine

You can find Rebekah Rotstein and Buff Bones at:
https://buff-bones.com/
Instagram @gotbuffbones
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/BuffHealthyBones

_________________________________________
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https://www.fasterwaycoach.com/?aid=MicheleFolan

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mfolanfasterway@gmail.com

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*Transcripts are done with AI and may not be perfectly accurate.

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Transcript

Asking for a Friend
Want Buff Bones?
Michele Folan
Rebekah Rotstein

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

bones, osteoporosis, work, talk, body, health, people, exercise, buff, great, balance, pilates, fracture, dancing, walking, menstruating, strength training, absolutely, mobility, ballet dancer

Speaker 1  0:00  
Take a pill, they said, increase your calcium and your vitamin D and we'll see you back in two years. Have you ever felt dismissed and wanting more answers to your questions? If you follow the podcast on social media, you already know that this happened to me. I went on my own search to find information as to what options are out there for an osteopenia and osteoporosis diagnosis. I'm happy to report that there are reliable resources to guide you. That won't rob the bank that provide a holistic approach to bone health, strength and mobility. And I will reiterate that I am not anti pharmaceutical, but we owe it to ourselves to do research to ensure that we are making the most educated decisions possible.

Speaker 1  1:04  
Health, Wellness, career, relationships and everything in between. We're removing the taboo from what really matters in midlife. I'm your host, Michele Folan, and this is asking for a friend. To the show everyone, our guest today is an industry leader for Pilates, bone health and movement education. She is the founder of buff bones, a medically endorsed exercise system for bone and joint health, with on demand classes and trained instructors in more than 30 countries. A former ballet dancer Rebecca Rothstein also worked in the sports medicine department at Smith College. As a student athletic trainer starting in 1994. She has presented at numerous conferences in the Pilates industry at the International Osteoporosis Foundation worldwide conference, and for the International Association for dance medicine and science. Rebecca is a member of the ambassador Leadership Council for the bone health and Osteoporosis Foundation, and ambassador for the American bone health and worked has a partner of the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Women's Health. She also serves on the bone health working group for the society of women's health and research contributing to the 2021 recommendations published in the journal for women's health. Oh my gosh, those are some credentials. Welcome. Rebecca Rothstein things Michelle,

Unknown Speaker  2:49  
I'm happy to be here with you.

Speaker 1  2:51  
I felt like I just went through a tongue twister on that one. But do have a lot of background that lends incredible credibility to what we're going to talk about today. But first of all, I'd love for you to just introduce yourself a little bit, just tell the audience where you're from family details, schooling and any other details you'd like to share?

Speaker 2  3:15  
Well, I live in Denver, but I moved here only four years ago after spending my mostly my whole adult life 21 years living in New York City. Before that, I had been living on the East Coast for college, also dancing. But I had grown up in the southwest been a bit all over the country as well as overseas for living in terms of schooling while I went to Smith. At that point, when I went I thought I was going to go into physical therapy, I had just quit dancing. I worked in the Sports Medicine Department working with our injured athletes. And I decided you know what, I think I'm just going to completely move away from the body. And I did for maybe three years or so. And then I eventually came completely 100% Full steam back into working with the body, dealing with orthopedic injuries, and eventually osteoporosis. My background is an interesting one because I originally studied art history. Art History doesn't necessarily relate to anatomy. But it actually does give you a very interesting way to see the world I think and to see what's in front of you and to dissect with your eyes in a way which eventually led to actually dissecting with my hands, a lot of cadaver dissection, anatomy work. It's been an interesting journey.

Speaker 1  4:41  
You do have a story to tell of really how you got into this and I would love for you to share that with the audience.

Speaker 2  4:49  
When I had eventually moved back to working with the body as I told you I moved away from it for a while. I decided to get certified as a Pilates instructor at one point Just as a side gig, because I had been doing Pilates from my own injuries from the old ballet injuries years ago, one of the things once I really concentrated in the Pilates world was I became a teacher trainer. So I was training others to become certified in Pilates. And the curriculum that I specialized in was the injuries and we call it special populations. Because of my background having worked in that, I decided to take an additional osteoporosis course workshop, I was already teaching the basics of it. But I wanted to learn a little bit more. And in that, I discovered a really startling statistic, which was at the time that 98% of your bone density is developed by the time you're 18 to 20. I knew that, wow, I was really at high risk already. Because I'm small boned it runs in my family. But as a teenager, when I was dancing, I had stopped menstruating, which is very common. It's called Red's relative energy deficiency in sport. You see this very commonly, in ballet dancers, you see this in high performance athletes, where they're just not getting enough calories to meet your energy expenditure, the amount of caloric output that you're doing in your exercise. I thought, oh, I should get a bone density test, because I'm probably even more at risk than I realized. Let me get a baseline for later in life. And then sure enough, it came back saying oh, you know, you have, I was told, unfortunately, you have the bones of an 85 year old god. Yes. And again, that goes into a whole other topic of bedside manner and how we should talk to patients and how we should deliver information and communicate. Yeah, but it set me off on this whole trajectory, because all of a sudden, I who had been teaching about this was becoming the patient.

Speaker 1  7:01  
I do have a couple questions for you. So when did you start dancing? How old were you?

Speaker 2  7:06  
I believe I was 10. Okay, my whole life has been a mover though. I started ice skating when I was three. So pretty much right after I could walk. I was ice skating. And I was at a high competitive level. And in order to be at that level, at least at the time, I assume it's still the same ballet is required because you had to cultivate grace. Absolutely. And artistry. And that's how I started dancing. And then I quit ice skating and pursued dance with the same intensity and passion.

Unknown Speaker  7:40  
Apparently do with things with everything in life.

Speaker 2  7:43  
Yeah, there's not too much half way with me.

Unknown Speaker  7:47  
Okay, you can say half ass. I know. That's what you wanted to say. Okay, How long had you stopped menstruating?

Speaker 2  7:53  
Let's see, well, I had started menstruating late. And that's also another interesting thing that you should know about osteoporosis is that the greater lifespan, or a period of time that you have periods that you're menstruating is gonna be beneficial. If you start menstruating late, and you stop menstruating early, that means a complete lifespan of less estrogen exposure, which is not as beneficial to you. I was only 15 When I started menstruating. And then after a year, it stopped. Okay, I was at San Francisco Ballet School around 17 When I had been put on a contraceptive pill to jumpstart my periods again. Yeah, it was well over a year that I wasn't menstruating,

Speaker 1  8:39  
as I'm sitting here thinking I'm thinking of, and not just girls, but anybody with eating disorders at this time of life, they would be at risk, right? Absolutely. Because they're not eating enough. They're not absorbing enough nutrients. And then there's also the bone coach Kevin, who has been on the show when he was on, I think it was episode 21. He had celiac and wasn't absorbing his nutrients and was diagnosed with osteoporosis at the age of 32 or 34. It doesn't just affect women. It's also a man as well.

Speaker 2  9:17  
Absolutely. In the United States, it's estimated that one in two women over 50 will have a fracture from osteoporosis in their lifetime, but also one in four men. So we don't often think about the male population. But there's absolutely that risk factor. As we were saying, you know, age certainly plays a role. But you know, I was 28 at the time that I was identified as having low bone density. What we've also discovered since though is that it wasn't bone loss that I was incurring it was that I probably never built up my peak bone mass to begin with. On top of that, there's also different criteria that should be used when you're pre menopausal, than when you're postmenopausal. It's really a complicated area? It's not a very simple black and white answer to a lot of these questions.

Speaker 1  10:06  
How did the news of your diagnosis at such a young age impact you?

Speaker 2  10:12  
It was horrible. I mean, movement, as I mentioned, had been my entire life. It's still part of me, professionally, as well as personally to think that my body was giving out on me yet again, because I felt like it had. I mean, it had when I was dancing. So it was this horrible deja vu of Oh, no, I'm going through this all over again, I thought that I overcome all this. And then also, there's definitely a sense of anger or frustration. For many people, I had this as well, a sense of depression, or an experience of depression. And anxiety. This is one of the things that I try to work on with people, to comfort them and restore that sense of confidence. Because just because you've had a diagnosis of osteoporosis doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to fracture. And I think that's one of the biggest messages that I tried to get out that it's not a situation of something having taken over your body like a cancer, it's a very, very different scenario. And there's two elements to the definition of osteoporosis. There's the loss of bone mass, but there's also the changes in the structure of the architecture of the bone. There was no evidence that I had any weakening true weakening of my bones. It's just that the mass was lower. And again, I'm really tiny and small bone, so I'm automatically going to be predisposed to having lower bone mass. It's ripe for greater discussion, because I think the topic is over simplified. And when people don't get enough information, it's very easy to go into panic mode.

Speaker 1  11:51  
When you and I first spoke, I told you what the doctor had told me when I was diagnosed with osteo Pena, and osteoporosis was Go ahead, let's start you on a bisphosphonate Fosamax. And I want you to increase your calcium and vitamin D, and I'll see you back in two years. I just was my eyes. I was like, Are you kidding me? That's what you're telling me. So I'm glad we're having this conversation. Because I want people to know that there are options, there's plenty we can do on the prevention end, not saying that some people should definitely maybe be on a pharmaceutical, if that is right for them, because we're all at different stages in this, but that there are other things that we can do to be proactive. I did have a question about Did you ever try any pharmaceuticals? And what are you doing now? preventatively?

Speaker 2  12:52  
I did not. And the reason I did not Well, let me first back up and tell you that on that initial phone call from the physician, I was told well, the bad news is you have osteoporosis. The good news is you can take Fosamax. Once I started doing some of my research, I discovered that the bisphosphonates at the time had not been tested on premenopausal women of childbearing age, it seemed highly unusual that it would be the first line of course, for me, on top of which I wanted to rule out underlying conditions, because again, I was pre menopausal. Maybe there's something else going on. And I'm so glad I did. I saw an endocrinologist who ran numerous tests. And I highly recommend that when somebody's diagnosed with osteoporosis, you first want to rule out any other underlying causes, besides just hormone, let's say related bone loss that might be occurring. So it turns out I had a vitamin D deficiency. Everybody knows about this now. But back in 2004, nobody was talking about this by remineralizing. Just through vitamin D uptake and changing my diet and changing my exercise regimen, I was able to improve my bone density. Now granted, I still had a lot of estrogen in my body and in my late 20s. But I was also very lucky in the sense that Well, I found out about my situation before ever having a fracture, and hopefully I'll never have a fracture and be completely fine. So no, I did not go on the bisphosphonates which is one classification to explain of antiresorptive of stopping the bone breakdown. And I didn't and it's a good thing. I didn't also because that was not my underlying cause. I think one of the things that can be very useful for people is to get specific bone turnover markers or certain blood tests, again, ruling out any other underlying cause. And also identifying Well, is it excessive bone loss? Perhaps that is the issue that's happening. There's a whole host of different types of tests that can be You run. But basically, I'd be treating something that was not the underlying cause that wasn't the problem. So no, and I have not gone on any I have not needed to. Okay, who knows? 30 years from now? I'm 47 right now. But no, I have not.

Speaker 1  15:19  
And you've built a business out of your passion for helping people with their diagnosis, I would love for you to share the process, like what did that look like? Because you went from being a Pilates instructor to now instructing others on how to teach other people how to handle their disease.

Speaker 2  15:45  
I'd like to say that there was some great big strategy and master. But there really wasn't, I had a couple benefits I should say. One is, as I mentioned, I already was teaching other teachers how to become Pilates instructors, I already knew how to educate. I think I used those skills to be able to bring this material to others. But basically, it started out that I just created a workshop that was for exercise professionals. And then that grew and the demand grew. And I also was presenting at various conferences around the world. So that also increased the name recognition and demand for the material. After I was asked to write a paper for a continuing medical education company, that involves doing an entire literature review of all the research, that's where the basis of what became the buff bones method arrived, because I was able to actually see all the evidence that was out there on exercise and bone health and osteoporosis. Use what existed of techniques, and then also bringing the clinical experience that I had also my own experience of knowing what does this feel like as a patient, which, to me was really the biggest part that was missing at the time of acknowledging the psychological impacts beyond just the physiological and physical side of this condition. So I launched an instructor training program in 2011, we've been going strong for over a decade, educating other exercise professionals to be able to help people like yourself around the world. And then a couple of years back, we also started creating on demand programming so that people who don't have somebody near them can go right onto their computer and workout with us and strengthen their bones and take care of their bodies in that way. And I

Speaker 1  17:39  
think having that extra resource for people that may not have someone to work with, I'm fortunate, I did find someone very close to my home that has put me through my paces a little bit. She's a physical therapist. What I love about it is that she's really teaching me not just about flexibility, but mobility. Yes. Can you differentiate that and also talk about the importance of strength training,

Speaker 2  18:09  
I think that the common term that most of us are familiar with is flexibility, you know, I want to be able to touch my toes, but mobility is usable flexibility, essentially, do you really care that you can touch your toes other than for your ego? Or do you care that you can actually squat down or reach for certain objects, and have the range of motion to do whatever it is you want in your life. So mobility is really that usable range of motion. That's one of the key components in our program, as well as really part of the starting point, that if you want to be able to do certain bone strengthening activities, let's say squats, right, you need to be able to have the ability for your ankles to bend and your knees to bend in order to get that motion. So in other words, mobility is often the starting point, we have to have the mobility in order to be able to build the strength. But then you also need strength in order to sustain balance. And then also, there's elements of coordination, there's elements of postural alignment, let's say, and these are some of the key skills that we focus on within buffed bonds because they're essential to actually have that strong resilient body that we're trying to achieve. Now in terms of strength training, people think of strength training solely as weight training and there really is a difference. Strength training is really increasing your strength through progressive overload, meaning you just keep making it harder. Essentially, you incrementally increase the load so that as your muscles adapt, they don't get lazy, that they continue to adapt and you keep gaining strength. One way of strength training, is using weights. For instance, you might do that at the gym when you're working with reps and sets. And that's terrific. But you can also be doing strength training without any weights with only your body weight, I want to clarify that you don't have to go to the gym, to do strength training, you can also I mean, I, in my classes, I'll have people take an Insta pot or a pot, load quinoa in there, you know, start loading all the things in so that you just use whatever you have available at your disposal. But I want to clarify, also, once we hit menopause, the ability to improve your bone density through exercise alone is very limited. what research has shown is that you have to do very, very heavy loads in order for that to be capable. It's not to say you shouldn't do it, it's to say if you can do it, absolutely go and do it. But don't be misled by claims, saying that you're going to build your bone density, when you're not using those extremely heavy loads. And I'm talking you know, say the most you can do of a single deadlift is 100 pounds. So we're saying you're doing your reps with 80 pound dumbbells or kettlebells. That's a lot. And that's more than the average person is usually doing and really needs to be supervised. Do that if you can, that's great. But understand when you really are building your bone density versus our bigger goal is really maintaining and preventing bone loss. I just want to clarify the difference.

Speaker 1  21:36  
Thank you for explaining that because the progressive load piece I've heard, but I didn't exactly understand. Thank you for that. Yeah, I do see women doing deadlifting. And I find that looks very intimidating, to be quite honest. And I mean, I do lift, I think relatively heavy weights for my size. And I'm trying to just slowly increase that. But am I ever going to be able to get heavy enough to impact my thoughts,

Speaker 2  22:08  
what you bring up is very, very common, you're not alone in feeling that sense of intimidation, there's two answers that I have to that. One is, if you're intimidated by that, and you're really not going to do it, then it's better you do something and do what you're doing right now. And what we do with buff bones is actually very different from a weight training environment, we do bring in weights, we bring it in once people have arrived at a level of competence and form to be able to ensure that they're not going to injure themselves. But we really start off with what's called good motor control how the sequencing of your muscles contract in a proper order, as dictated by your nervous system, so that you prevent injury and you're really working efficiently in your body. And so that you have good movement foundations. And then as I mentioned, we're working on all those other skill sets. The idea is, if you can get up to the point where you can add in the heavier weights, that's great. If you're intimidated, that's alright. You're not alone. If you can work past that intimidation, great. But a lot of people are not going to there's the whole idea of oh, you know, we should all eat organic and we should only eat Baba blah. And maybe there's validity to that. But Is that realistic? So are you stopping people from doing anything by thinking that they must lift heavy weights, and that's part of my big mission is to say, look, there are all sorts of things that you can do that are going to not only be helpful for your bones, but also work your entire body. Because what we're doing is more than just dealing with your bones, we're addressing a really functional body, and appreciation of your body as well. If you can do the ideal, that's great. But a you have to have a starting point, you have to work up through that. And that's why we like to think of buff bones is really the exercise hub of your whole bone health journey. Because it gives you the foundation, it gives you all these things that you should be doing for your body. And one of those spokes on the wheel is that heavy weight training if you can do it, but also you know, maybe you enjoy doing reformer Pilates, or maybe you enjoy doing safe yoga, or maybe you're a hiker like myself or you enjoy tai chi or whatever the things that you're doing, those are those spokes on the wheel, because again, if you don't enjoy it, you're probably not going to do it. And it's important that you do something and let that something you're doing at least have some bone benefits in the first place.

Speaker 1  24:42  
I think some of the intimidation factor comes from doing it incorrectly and hurting yourself. Sure. I like what you're saying about supervised to ensure a form because form is so important to being safe.

Speaker 2  24:57  
It is one other thing to show that's not It talks about enough in our midlife community is the propensity and hide predisposition toward tendon injuries in postmenopausal and Peri menopausal women, the reduction in estrogen has a direct effect on our soft tissues. And it's not uncommon in any way for there to be tenderness, injuries and tendinopathy is especially in the hips and the shoulders. When you start adding in heavy loads to those underlying conditions, and you get a recipe for disaster, those are things that aren't talked enough about that really shouldn't be addressed. And that's also why what we try to do is really work for healthy joint mechanics, and help nourish the joints in addition to the bones themselves.

Speaker 1  25:47  
I sound like I'm 102 When I talk about some of my issues I've had lately but my knees were really sore. And my right hip was killing me. And I went to the chiropractor. And you know, we did some dry needling and some things and my knees, were still bothering my hip was still sore off and on, depending on the day. And I was going, You know what, I'm going to try orthotics in my shoes, and oh, my god. Night and day was just, I needed some arch support in my shoes, and I'm fine now. But if it's not one thing, it's another I tell you, it's

Speaker 2  26:25  
well, you bring up an interesting point, though, I think it's really valid. And we laugh, but it's so true. Because this is such a common experience. In this time in life, there's a lot of ups and downs, you know, our bodies are different every day, to have the kind of pressure that you must lift heavy every day can also be a deterrent to people. Should we when we can absolutely do I do it when I can? Yes, I definitely do. I'm going to the gym later today. However, there's also a balance that needs to be struck that sometimes the body needs something a little bit more nourishing, and a little bit more calming and respectful in the sense of meeting it where it's at at that point. So again, it's this whole idea of seeing the bigger picture is not just one thing, what we need is a combination of different activities and approaches.

Speaker 1  27:24  
I think you and I were talking about the importance of impact exercises that may be walking isn't enough. Can you talk about that a little bit?

Speaker 2  27:37  
Should you walk? Yes. Is it sufficient to meet all your bone health needs? Know, basically, walking is great for you. I mean, we should all be doing it. But it's not putting enough demand on your bones that will help stimulate them in the way that is needed. And especially if you're somebody who's small boned like you and I are, we just don't have enough mass on our bodies on our frames, that is going to be stimulating in that manner. Things that you can do though, is you know, maybe you're out for your walk. Well, again, depending on the status of your bones, maybe you can try hopping. Or maybe you can try side walking. So it's almost like little steps. Or you can try a little side skip manner you can try when you're at the stoplight waiting to cross the street, try heel drops, so that you just lift and lower your heels with straight knees, getting that impact to reverberate through your bones. But to answer your question, no walking is not enough. When I asked a client intake, so what are you doing for your physical activity? Oh, I walk. It's not enough. There has to be more. But that said don't stop walking. There's benefits the fresh air, there's benefits to just getting outside to the actual act of walking for what's called gait. You're walking pattern. Don't stop walking, but don't think of that as your sole benefit for your bones.

Speaker 1  29:11  
We talked about mobility. But then there's also balanced. Do you all work with your clients on their balance and core strength as well?

Speaker 2  29:22  
Definitely, definitely. And actually, there is a direct relationship between the two. I'm always a little hesitant to talk about core strength because the term has been bastardized in the industry over the last 2030 years actually, that idea of core control, let's say and everybody thinks of their bellies involved in that and there is the abdominal relationship to that. But yes, that relationship of core control does have a direct relationship to fall prevention and therefore fracture prevention. Yes, absolutely. We work on that. And also we certainly work on balance. One of the things that we do in the in the method is a very specific systematic approach. So within a session or within a single class, you're working on every single skill set, no matter what your level is. And again, to have those skill sets our strength and balance, we do it in a very progressive manner that is related to loading forces. So it comes again, back to the science that's out there. And we work on our balance at the end of the workouts. At that point, we have completely organized the body, we have removed some of these stiffness restrictions from the connective tissue known as the fascia, reintegrated, it worked through the nervous system, such that by the time you're standing, your body's really well organized, and your success rate in achieving the balance exercise that are performing these balance exercises is much greater than it was or would have been at the very start.

Speaker 1  30:57  
Oh, that's fascinating. Yeah. Oh, that's really cool. I think from my perspective, and maybe a lot of women my age, I'm 59 is we're living longer. And the fear of ever falling, and not being able to get back up off the floor is very real. And some of us have had parents that have gone through that and it's horrifying. working on your balance, it may seem not important, but it really does help. I mean, we've got to look at all aspects of this.

Speaker 2  31:36  
Well, I'll tell you, it's interesting. And I'm a former ballet dancer, and my jam as a dancer was balanced and turns like balancing on a little pointe shoe that's my feet are small. So what like three inch radius? Yeah, I'll tell you in the last couple of years, I've noticed changes in my balance, which is a shock to me. I mean, it doesn't really get much better than maybe a gymnast in terms of balance. But it happens, it changes with age. And I've talked to numerous researchers about this, trying to see what the scientific correlation and evidence is. And it's pretty lacking. But I can tell you 100%, clinically, it happens. I've seen it in every single postmenopausal woman. And also here in myself, I've seen it in my own hormonal changes. And yet, I think one of the biggest things that's interesting, as I told you how, when a buff bones class, near the end of the class is when we start doing some of the balance work. And it's really interesting, where you'll have people in the class who think that you know, they're rocking it, everything's great. And then all of a sudden, it's this humbling experience once we start doing the balance exercises. Along those lines, though, you're right. I think many people in midlife are not thinking about, Oh, I'm going to fall right now. And yet two things one is the most common side of fracture for midlife women is the wrist why? Because you trip and fall. So we often think of the fear of osteoporosis or the fearful outcome is a hip fracture, it's very unlikely, it's pretty unlikely I should say that that's going to happen in midlife, that's really a concern in the elderly population. That's what you and I really want to prevent 2530 years from now. But right now, we also have to really make sure that we don't trip and fall and fracture the wrist. It doesn't have the morbidity, correlation. But it absolutely changes your quality of life and your ability to take care of yourself.

Speaker 1  33:39  
It's a pain in the ass. I've had a couple of friends that have broken their wrists or arms from a fall. Oh, it just it changes everybody's life and your family because everybody has to help you.

Speaker 2  33:52  
It's actually true. This happened to my mom two years ago, and yeah, it changed my life. I had to go fly down and take care of her because she had both arms casted, oh no. However, I have to say, You know what was one of the most eye opening experiences for me was watching how, despite the fact that you know, she couldn't put her clothes on, etc. She was able to get up and down to the bathroom. She did not need my support to get to the toilet. Unlike most people her age because she has been doing buff bone. She has been working out with a trainer. She has been taking care of herself, physically doing squats and things for years. That was just such an eye opener to realize, wow, if she had not been doing all that she's been doing, it would actually be very humbling and also even sometimes humiliating that she couldn't even go to the bathroom by herself. Yeah, whereas she was able to because she had the lower extremity strength, the lower leg strength and that core control from everything else she'd been doing. It's an interesting insight to see again, how and why we should take care of ourselves because it helps the others around us as well as ourselves.

Speaker 1  35:05  
You know, I did have one other question that popped in my head, as you were talking about this was, what about breathwork? Does having a good breath practice fit into buff bones?

Speaker 2  35:22  
Yes. And I think that breath is one of the most underlooked elements of bone health. And I'll tell you why. Because typically, bone health comes out of research that is done in a physical therapy setting, or even when you're looking at personal training. But I come initially from a Pilates background. So I bring in those elements of the Mind Body Foundation, and developmental movement patterns, all of which breath is the precursor to anything else you do. Learning to breathe, is the first step of what we do within buff bones. And it's not that we're spending an entire session on breathing, but it's teaching you healthy and efficient ways to breathe, to take in the oxygen to avoid elevating and tensing your shoulders as you breathe, how the mechanics basically work. And then it also helps down regulate your nervous system. And that sense of stress that not only can be detrimental to the protection, I guess, I would say in the health of your bones, but also is essential to every other movement that you do. Yes, we really are based in the elements of breathing and how breathing is the impetus for all the exercises that you

Speaker 1  36:56  
do. I had a feeling that breath was gonna work in there. I'm glad I asked. Rebecca, are you working on any other projects right now?

Speaker 2  37:06  
I am, we are in the middle of redoing our website for one thing, because we're creating a more streamlined experience from having had this sort of b2b side of training exercise professionals for over a decade, as well as the last number of years of on demand elements and content and programming for people like yourself for the public. Also working with some university institutions, with some hopefully very exciting projects to come. Also some educational programming that we're looking to cultivate for the public ways to help bring information that has to do with bone health and other aspects that you wouldn't necessarily correlate with bone health. Just as you know, we're talking about breath, that doesn't usually come to mind when you think of the health of your bones, but other factors and working again, with big educational institutions. Additionally, just working with organizations for better community outreach and support, a lot of this obviously comes with advocacy. And that's a big part of what we do at buff bones beyond training exercise professionals and helping people like you directly with osteoporosis is also just getting the word out and helping spread useful and valid information so that people can really live with confidence and not be paralyzed by a diagnosis.

Speaker 1  38:37  
Rebecca, your excitement about what you do is very palpable. I'm very excited for you that you are continuing on in this because you bring so much hope to people like me, that there are things that we can do over and beyond just taking a pill or shot. Thank you for that. I would love for you to tell our listeners where they can find you.

Speaker 2  39:04  
Thank you so much. First of all, I really appreciate that you can find us at buff dash bones.com So it's buff bones with a hyphen in between the two words.com. And on Instagram we're at got buff bones and also on Facebook. It's just buff bones.

Speaker 1  39:26  
Perfect. I will always put that in the show notes. I am so happy you were here today. Thank you so much for sharing.

Unknown Speaker  39:34  
Thanks for inviting me to speak with you. I really enjoyed it

Speaker 1  39:45  
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Unknown Speaker  39:54  
You

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