Osteoporosis and the Benefits of Exercising

Osteoporosis is a common problem, affecting an estimated 1 in 10 women worldwide at the age of 60. By the time a woman reaches the age of 80, she has a 2-in-5 chance of developing osteoporosis. In most people, sometime during your 30s your bone mass will start to gradually decline. For women, that bone loss can significantly speed up during the first decade of menopause.

Statistics suggest that, worldwide, 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men over the age of 50 will experience an osteoporosis-related bone fracture. In 2000, there were 9 million osteoporotic fractures, including 1.6 million hip fractures — a quarter of which occurred in men — which can lead to a significant decline in health and quality of life. Hip fractures can also be life-threatening. Twenty percent of those who break a hip die in the first 12 months following the fracture.

Statistics also reveal that osteoporosis is becoming more prevalent. In the decade between 1990 and 2000, the number of hip fractures increased by 25 percent worldwide.2 So, what can be done about this problem? It’s important to realize that osteoporosis is preventable by “proper living,” meaning eating right, getting nutritional movement and effective exercise.

Weight-bearing exercises are particularly important for the prevention of osteoporosis, which is characterized by porous and fragile bones. Unfortunately, drugs are typically the first-line remedy recommended by conventional doctors. This is tragic, considering these drugs do more harm than good.

Your Lifestyle Largely Determines Your Osteoporosis Risk

While diet certainly plays an important role, weight-bearing exercise is one of the most effective remedies against osteoporosis. For example, the walking lunge is a great exercise for building bone density in your hips, even without any additional weights. It is an absolutely extraordinary exercise and doesn’t cost anything to do. You can use YouTube to find demonstrations of how to do it properly.

Balance-building exercises like yoga and Tai Chi are also recommended. As long as you have strong muscles, bones and steady balance, your risk of falling is minimized. Should you fall, your chances of actually breaking a bone are also dramatically reduced.

Needless to say, the earlier you start exercising, the better — provided you keep it up. Exercise is really a lifelong lifestyle component, not a temporary fix for any particular problem. That said, even if you’re older, you can still improve your bone health. It’s never too late to start exercising. It just gets a bit more challenging, since you’re starting at a lower level of fitness with each passing year of inactivity. Below I’ll offer some effective exercise alternatives that can be particularly helpful if your fitness level is low. As noted by Fight Aging:

“The research materials … argue that the majority of people are not aware of the degree to which they are harming themselves, and that efforts should be taken to correct this … In our technological society of cheap calories, easy transportation, and replacements for physical labor, most people eat too much and exercise too little.

That becomes ever more pronounced over the years … This has a cost when it comes to health … Avoidable damage done to health over the long term is often referred to as secondary aging. It includes … accelerated loss of muscle resulting from lack of exercise. Near everyone in later life fails to exercise sufficiently, as demonstrated by study after study showing improvement in the muscle and health of even very old people following modest resistance exercise programs.”

Exercise Naturally Builds Stronger Bones
Aside from walking lunges, high-impact exercises such as sprinting and jumping are also effective, as is weight training. In one 2014 study, women between the ages of 25 and 50 who performed a minimum of 10 “flea leaps” in a row, twice a day for four months, significantly increased the bone density in their hipbones.

An earlier study found hopping and weightlifting increased bone density in the spine by 2 percent. Weight training targeting both the upper body and legs was particularly effective. Keep in mind that you’re not restricted to any particular type of exercise though. For example, you don’t have to use weight gym equipment if you don’t want to. Other examples of high-impact weight-bearing exercises recommended by the U.S. National Osteoporosis Foundation include:

Dancing
High-impact aerobics
Hiking
Jumping rope
Climbing stairs
Playing tennis
Lower impact weight-bearing exercises, which are a safer alternative if you’re frail include:

Low-impact aerobics
Stair-step machines
Fast walking