How To Slow Osteoporosis
Fitness - May 8, 2024
We train over 100 adult personal training clients and almost every single woman we train wonders about preventing osteoporosis. It’s a goal to prevent it and prevent the long term effects that come with it. Specifically, breaking bones with a fall as you age, which completely changes your quality of life in your 60s, 70s, 80s, and beyond.
The number one way to prevent osteoporosis is through weight bearing exercise. It’s more important than any pill your doctor might suggest. That includes both movement and impact training as well as strength training with weights.
To some in their 60s and beyond, weight bearing exercises might sound scary. “I haven’t hopped in years!” or “How much weight do you want me to lift?!”
A proper preventative program for osteoporosis includes a safe progression from your current ability level to performing power and strength movements you’ve never thought possible. The key is smart exercise programing.
Strength training
The start of the preventative process includes weight training and getting stronger. Since most osteoporosis occurs in the hips and legs, lower body movements are where the journey begins.
We’ll want to squat, step up, pick things up off the floor, carry weights, and maybe even lunge to get your lower body stronger.
Lifting weight can mean starting with just your body weight. Then, a progression based on your movement and strength levels will be planned out and you’ll get stronger every week.
If you’re committed to getting stronger, you will slow down bone loss or even increase bone density as you progress. Ultimately, it will lead you to performing more weight bearing tasks, or what I refer to as impact training.
Impact training
This is where things get interesting. And if you’ve started to get stronger, it’s when the fun really starts!
Impact training just means striking the ground with your feet. Literally, the first step is walking. If you aren’t already, you need to start walking every day. 15 minutes is a great start, and you can advance to whatever you have the time for. Walking always comes first.
Next comes any type of hopping movement. We can start with jumping jacks, or bunny hops over a line.
Then comes the agility ladder! You’ll look like a pro athlete once you learn some basic rhythm and techniques to make it safe, fun, and effective.
The final boss is the box jump. We’ve had women in their 60s and 70s routinely do box jumps after teaching them proper technique. Some start with 6” and stay there. Our highest jump currently from someone in their 60s is 18”!
Talk about some cool party tricks you can show your kids or even grandkids!
Ultimately, our goal is to keep your bones and muscles strong. And let me tell you, if you can jump on a box effectively, your balance is going to be quite a bit better, too, preventing any falls in the first place.
The science exists that shows this is the way to save your bones. If you’re brave enough to start, you’ll stay strong for the rest of your life!