It's not news that exercise helps build strong bones. But it is news, as reported by Gretchen Reynolds in the New York Times Well column, that several shorter periods of exercise build bones better than fewer longer sessions. In other words, if you can exercise briefly two or three times a day, you may be doing your bones a favor. Reynolds reports on research with mice conducted by Janet Rubin, a professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina. Rubin knew that mesenchymal stem cells, which are found in bone marrow in both animals and people, are waiting for certain molecular signals to tell them to transform into either bone cells or fat cells. She found that one of the things that tells those cells to become bone cells is exercise, and the more frequent the exercise, the more powerful the influence. Reynolds reports that Rubin's work in the lab has persuaded the researcher to change her own workout routine. She now works out twice a day for 30 minutes, rather than, for a single hourlong bout.
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Saturday, May 31, 2025