There is so much information out there that it is hard to sort through what is useful and discard what is isn’t. This is especially true when it comes to osteoporosis. This is no longer just an “older woman’s” disease. There are many young women with osteopenia which is low bone-density that is not quite low enough to be classified as osteoporosis. There are several reasons why this is more prevalent in younger women than ever before. The greatest of these is probably due to inactivity, but eating disorders and pressures to be unusually thin are a close second and third.

Now certain medications and calcium recommendations for osteoporosis are coming under deeper scrutiny because enough time has finally passed to have tested the efficacy of them and they are not getting very high scores. I will leave that up to the recommendations of your physicians. But I will share what I know about exercise and how it can help in the maintenance of bone-density.

It helps to know the difference between weight bearing exercise and weight loading exercise even though both are necessary components of your exercise program. Strong bones are dense and rough. If you were to compare the bones of a construction worker to those of a sedentary office worker, the latter would have smaller, smoother bones. I remember actually getting to see the two compared in my college Kinesiology course. Weight bearing exercises are those which strengthen the arms, legs, pelvis, spine, and feet by placing demands on the bones which stimulates bone cell growth. Activities like stair climbing, walking, hiking, dancing, and tennis cause the muscles and bones to bear weight and work against gravity. Exercises such as push ups put demands on the wrists and arms. Although there are aerobic benefits to be gained, swimming, cycling and water aerobics do not stimulate bone growth because the body is not bearing weight.

When it comes to weight training exercises, the goal is to strengthen the muscles by moving them through their range of motion with resistance through the use of weights, body weight, tubing, pulleys, etc. Weight training will also place demands on bones but the primary focus is on strengthening the muscles. Strong muscles aid in the performance of weight-bearing exercises by allowing you to stand longer, walk farther and increase your stability and balance. They also aid in extra calorie burning since muscle mass contributes to a higher metabolic rate.

So which should you chose? A combination of weight bearing AND weight loading exercises are necessary for bone health and so my recommendation is to do both! In future posts I will demonstrate ways of combining the two.