Osteoporosis Exercises
How can we improve & maintain bone health?*
There are two types of osteoporosis exercises that are important for building and maintaining bone density: weight-bearing and muscle-strengthening exercises.
Weight-bearing Exercises
These exercises include activities that make you move against gravity while staying upright. Weight-bearing exercises can be high-impact or low-impact. If you have fragile bones or arthritis, you will want to only do low-impact exercises.
Weight-bearing exercises help build bones and keep them strong. If you have broken a bone due to osteoporosis or are at risk of breaking a bone, you may need to avoid high-impact exercises. If you’re not sure, you should check with your healthcare provider.
Examples of weight-bearing exercises are:
Dancing
Doing high-impact aerobics
Hiking
Jogging/running
Jumping Rope
Stair climbing
Tennis
Low-impact weight-bearing exercises can also help keep bones strong and are a safe alternative if you cannot do high-impact exercises. Examples of low-impact weight-bearing exercises are:
Using elliptical training machines
Doing low-impact exercise classes
Using stair-step machines
Fast walking on a treadmill or outside
Benefits of Non-Impact Exercise
Non-impact exercises can help you to improve balance, posture and how well you move in everyday activities. These exercises can also help to increase muscle strength and decrease the risk of falls and broken bones. Some of these exercises include:
Balance exercises that strengthen your legs and test your balance, can decrease your risk of falls.
Posture exercises that improve your posture and reduce rounded or “sloping” shoulders can help you decrease the chance of breaking a bone, especially in the spine.
Functional exercises that improve how well you move can help you with everyday activities and decrease your chance of falling and breaking a bone. For example, if you have trouble getting up from a chair or climbing stairs, you should do these activities as exercises.
Muscle-Strengthening Exercises
These exercises include activities where you move your body, a weight or some other resistance against gravity. Another way to explain it is, exercising until your muscles are TIRED, then rest. When you have recovered and your muscles are rested, then exercise until your muscles are TIRED again.
They are also known as resistance exercises and include:
Lifting weights (using a weight in which you can lift and your muscles are tired after 10-15 repetitions)
Using weighted vests (always start with a lighter weight and gradually increase the weight to ensure your spine is not harmed)
Using elastic exercise bands
Using weight machines
Lifting your own body weight (as in squats, lunges, planks, bridge, etc)
Functional movements, such as standing and rising up on your toes, standing on one leg.
