Exercise and Osteoporosis

Throughout our entire life, our bones are always changing. As we get older, this can lead to our bones becoming weaker, often referred to as osteoporosis. To put things into perspective, there are currently over 4 ½ million Australians over the age of 50 have poor bone health. However, a diagnosis of osteoporosis doesn’t need to be a permanent change towards more constant breaks and bone injury. There are plenty of different types of exercises that can help reduce the effects of osteoporosis, and in some cases even reverse them! To tip tings in the favour of exercise even further, exercising during your younger years (before 50’s!) can actually result in healthier bones as you get older!

As we grow up, from young children, to teenagers, to young adults and further, our bones are constantly developing. Our bones are at their strongest from our early twenties, through to our late thirties, but then from around 40 and onwards, they begin to weaken. However, this onset can be delayed considerably by exercise! Bone strength is important as stronger bones break less often (obviously!). When we exercise, and move in general, we put forces and stress on our bone structure. Like with our muscles, our body will react to this stress by depositing extra calcium and minerals. This will increase their strength and make them more resistant to stress in future.

Now, all exercise is going to be beneficial for this result, however, weight bearing, and impact-based exercises are going to be the best! This includes almost all types of strength-based training, but also includes plyometric exercises like jumping, skipping and running. Along with these, boxing is also an excellent exercise for increasing bone density, especially in the arms and shoulders (as that is where the impact will be putting stress in this case). Including a mix of all of the above will give he best result, as your body will eventually get too good at protecting against certain types of stress, and they won’t give as good a result.

Regardless of your current fitness level or age, a qualified Personal Trainer (especially one with a relevant health degree) can guide you through what exercises need to be done to increase your bone density. This can be augmented with a training program, which will include exercises that are easy to do on your own. The best thing to do to begin with, however, is get in contact to organize a health consult. From there, the best course of action can be taken to improve your overall, and bone health!