[00:00] Your bones produce real electricity. Collagen molecules, your bones' protein-building blocks, contain charged groups of atoms. As you walk, your bones compress and the molecules slip past each other,
[00:13] creating an imbalance of charges like a tiny battery. Scientists call this piezoelectricity. Luckily, this charge can't shock you. To light an LED for one second, you'd need to walk for 19 years.
[00:26] But these tiny jolts are part of a vital process. your skeleton is constantly being rebuilt, directing this process of 42 billion osteocyte cells. Every step drives fluid through tiny tunnels around these cells, generating another faint electrical signal.
[00:42] Normally, osteocytes tell bone-building cells to keep away so your bones don't become huge everywhere. But when your bones are stressed, your cells get the signal to call the builders in, adding new soft bone where it's needed.
[00:54] Some scientists think Cotogen's piezoelectric charge is what attracts the minerals that harden the bone. The precise mechanisms are still debated, but it's why exercise is good for more than just building muscle.
[01:06] So even in your 60s, weightlifting can stop your bones from thinning and bulk up your spine.