Stacey Phillips, of North Baltimore, will be opening the area’s first “OsteoStrong®” Center, in Findlay. OsteoStrong® is a national health-and-wellness franchise business out of Tennessee, with multiple locations in that state, as well as Alabama, California, New Mexico, North Carolina, Texas, and other states. Boasting approximately 35 locations nationwide, OsteoStrong® has existed for about 4 years. Ohio is among the fastest growing states for the company, and interest among both users and potential franchisees is high.
Stacey is a 1988 graduate of NBHS. She is happily married to Jim Phillips, a 1979 graduate of NBHS. They have 6 children (all graduates of NBHS too) with 2 proudly serving in the armed services. They also have 3 amazing grandsons & 1 granddaughter. Stacey is the daughter of Shirley and the late Chester Paul.
OsteoStrong® offers a safe, natural way to strengthen bones, muscles, and joints. While each OsteoStrong® Center offers vibration plate therapy, and many, including the one in Findlay, offer HydroMassage, the star of each location is something called a bioDensity machine. It resembles the familiar Nautilus machine except that it’s connected to a computer and monitors. Dr. John Jaquish, a biomedical engineer, was inspired to create it because his own mother had osteoporosis and wanted a non-drug way to reverse her condition.
People using the bioDensity machine push, pull, and lift multiples of their body weight in what are called “trigger point” events. Their efforts are measured using precision strain gauges, and those measurements are recorded by a computer system. The whole time, the person using the machine sees how much force they are generating versus their last session on a monitor, and, after the entire session, users receive a detailed report graphing their progress over time. The entire process takes just a few minutes. According to several published studies, users have increased bone density by amounts that approach or exceed those claimed by leading osteoporosis medications and that are far greater than the traditional exercises often recommended to strengthen bones, like weight training and running.
October 20 is Osteoporosis Awareness Day, which is intended to bring awareness to the serious and growing public health threat posed by Osteoporosis. Government statistics show that in the United States, 54 million people have either osteoporosis or osteopenia, a precursor to osteoporosis. Internationally, 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men over the age of 50 will suffer an osteoporotic fracture. And while osteoporosis is often thought of as a bigger problem for women than for men, the risk of a man having an osteoporosis-related fracture is 27%, double the risk of prostate cancer.
Many people are unaware that bones are living tissue, just like muscle, and grow in response to stimulus – or shrink in its absence – just like muscles. If enough force is applied to bones, they grow stronger. This principle is called “Wolff’s Law,” which has been taught in medical schools for over a century. The bioDensity device works according to that law. According to published research, regular users of the device have improved their bone mineral density, or BMD – the standard measure of bone health – by more than 7% over the course of a year, which is on par with osteoporosis medications. Participants in the most recent study improved their hip and spine bone mineral density by even greater percentages after 6 months.
The benefits, particularly for the elderly, extend beyond bone and muscle strength. According to an independent, randomized clinical trial published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Aging, people in their 70s-90s were able to improve their balance by nearly 30% after 12 weeks of bioDensity and vibration plate sessions totaling 15 minutes a week. Equally important, they increased their functional independence scores, a vitally important issue for older Americans.
Phillips says that the OsteoStrong® “workout” solves two of the biggest challenges presented by the growing osteoporosis problem: injury risk and treatment compliance. As for injury risk, “most people know that they must exercise for overall health and that they must do specific strength-training exercises to make their bones strong. But the problem is that bones grow stronger only when subjected to loads that people cannot safely handle when lifting weights in a gym. This machine solves that problem because it is “self-loading,” meaning that, throughout the process, the user controls how much effort and force she is applying while in an optimal biomechanical position, supervised by what is called a “session coach.” This is in contrast to traditional weight lifting, where the user cannot alter the amount of weight she is lifting during the lift. In addition, people say they don’t have the time to spend hours in the gym. This solves the ‘I just don’t have time’ problem because people can do their sessions in their street clothes and complete the entire workout in a few minutes once a week. And for people who are active already, it isn’t going to disrupt their normal workout routine. They can pop in on the way to or from work, while running errands, or even on their way to another workout.”
Phillips says that the science is clear: “You don’t need to spend hours working out to make bones strong. What you need to do is the right kind of exercise for a very brief time. Bones get stronger when the right force is applied to them. Lots of repetitions of light weights are great for burning calories and toning, but do very little for bone health, according to published research.”
One unique feature of the machine is that it displays how much force a person is putting out and records and tracks that information over time. “It’s totally objective. There’s no guesswork about whether someone is getting stronger. Either they are or they aren’t, and the data tells us.” The machine uses sensitive strain gauges like those used in industrial applications to measure how much weight a person is lifting, and it displays that output on screens that both the user and the machine operator see in real time. “You just don’t get that sort of instant feedback plus long-term history in any other strength training equipment,” she says. “Plus,” Phillips adds, “this feedback loop makes the process fun for people.”
Because reducing fall risk is also key to preventing osteoporotic fractures, OsteoStrong® tracks its members’ balance improvements using something called a “BTracks Balance Tracking System,” a precision medical device that precisely measures an individual’s body “sway.” “Over time, our members should improve their balance in addition to their strength, and this device allows us to measure balance and track it over time. Everything we do here is objectively measured and tracked so that people know whether what they are doing is actually working. You don’t get that sort of objective feedback in most other fitness industries,” says Phillips, “and that is another thing that sets us apart.
Though developed as a natural treatment option for osteoporosis, OsteoStrong® is also marketed to the active population. Athletes such as football players, soccer players, and gymnasts, as well as middle-aged and older weekend warriors, endurance athletes, and even golfers stand to benefit from using the technology offered at his center. Dr. Jaquish is an avid triathlete who has competed in Ironman events, and became interested in the technology because he was concerned about his own history of injuries. “Like most middle aged people who engage in a lot of physical activity, I was getting injured a lot. I began to look for non-drug/non-supplement methods to protect me against injuries so that I could continue doing endurance sports at a high level.” He adds, “if you talk to strength experts, they’ll tell you that isometric exercise – that is, exercise where the joint angle is fixed – where a person can apply maximal force is a good addition to any strength training regime. The reason people don’t do a lot of isometrics, however, is twofold: first, they cheat but not applying all of their force because they don’t know how much force they are actually putting out; and second, they don’t have a way to measure how much force they’re putting out. The bioDensity machine solves both of those problems because it precisely measures and displays your force, and tracks it over time. Because each session takes just a few minutes, it is a perfect complement to other weight training and easily fits into anyone’s schedule.”
OsteoStrong® doesn’t replace medical or chiropractic care, or regular physical exercise. Phillips explains: “We don’t substitute what we do here for sound medical advice from a person’s physician, chiropractor, or other care giver. We do not give medical advice or diagnose. We offer a natural, safe, and proven way for people to improve their bone health, muscular strength, and balance. You can’t train for a marathon by doing only this, but doing this will make you a stronger runner.”
“With an aging population, a growing osteoporosis problem, decreased physical activity across all age groups, and public concern over the well-publicized side effects of prescription medications, OsteoStrong® is well positioned to grow in Ohio and nationwide, because it offers a proven, convenient way to prevent or reverse bone loss.” There’s been a lot of interest in this business model here in Ohio, which, statistically, has an aging population, and, let’s face it, probably has major Vitamin D deficiencies due to the long, grey winters (Vitamin D is necessary for bone health.). We’re now among the fastest growing states for this franchise.”
Copies of the referenced studies may be downloaded from the OsteoStrong® Facebook page at www.facebook.com/osteostrongfindlay. Stacey’s website is www.osteostrongfindlay.com . Additional information on the company and the equipment it uses can be found at www.osteostrong.me, www.biodensity.com, www.vibeplate.com, and www.hydromassage.com.
Stacey concluded, “OsteoStrong is not a gym, drug, or diet. Simply put, we are a human performance center specially designed to naturally leverage your body’s own built-in systems to improve bone density, regain balance, and increase strength at just about any age. My mission is not to just slow the process of aging, but actually reverse the process for bones, balance, and muscle naturally. ”
The OsteoStrong Findlay Center can be reached by phone at 419-581-5632, or in person at 655 Fox Run Road, Suite E, Findlay.
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The OsteoStrong Findlay Center can be reached by phone at 419-581-5632, or in person at 655 Fox Run Road, Suite E, Findlay.