> A better thing to optimize for would be less impact on knees and back.
I have osteoporosis, and my endocrinologist told me to do weight-wearing exercises, including running. For me, we _needed_ high impact exercises to strengthen the bones.
If you're going to be just walking, the slight impact might very well be something you need. Different goals for every body, but I'm just saying this out loud so that "less impact for knees" doesn't become a goal for folks who read that statement.
yes, bones are not nearly as static as many of us believe they are. they're dynamic tissues that require stress (impact) to maintain adequate strength, for all of us.
it's one of the major reasons joint replacements fail: because the replaced joint is taking too much stress away from the surrounding bone, which then weakens, and eventually breaks under stresses it can no longer sustain.
While I wish I had a good amount of credible sources on hand to post with this comment, I only really have suggestive anecdotal data.
Mayo Clinic isn't as good as you might think when it comes to musculoskeletal issues. They're great with infectious diseases though. In this case, I'd take caution with their thoughts on osteoporosis.
For example, Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. For the longest time Mayo Clinic denied it was a real condition. Then they agreed that 1/3 types was a real condition. Now they accept all types, or at least say they do, but try to chase away a large amount of people that have it for some reason. Finally, their surgery/treatment protocols are statistically quite bad now that they've started treating it. They've ruined a good amount of people's lives with bad surgical methods related to the syndrome... On the other hand, Boston Massachusetts General Hospital excels at musculoskeletal issues, especially thoracic outlet syndrome.
This is coming from somebody diagnosed with TOS at Mayo Clinic, going to MGH for surgical options as the average review from people having treatment at Mayo was terrible. Mass Gen. found that my case was much worse than Mayo had reported in their notes, and that their treatment protocol would've made me quite worse. Mass Gen. attempts a large amount of re-do surgeries for this syndrome with surprisingly good outcome, and people who had bad surgery at Mayo Clinic are their largest percentage of re-do's.
Just a thought I think should be out there. Like most institutions it would seem, Mayo is really good at some things... And really bad at others.
I have osteoporosis, and my endocrinologist told me to do weight-wearing exercises, including running. For me, we _needed_ high impact exercises to strengthen the bones.
If you're going to be just walking, the slight impact might very well be something you need. Different goals for every body, but I'm just saying this out loud so that "less impact for knees" doesn't become a goal for folks who read that statement.