Osteoporosis:
The facts behind the disease. (con't.)

What type of exercise?

To increase bone density, you must exercise your bones which means you must impart mechanical forces to the bones. This is done in one of two ways: gravitational support of the body weight by the skeleton is the natural way and its effectiveness is based on your body weight. People who are overweight actually have denser bones because of the increased amount of body weight their skeleton has to support. This is probably the only advantage to being overweight, however, eventually the decrease in estrogen will cause the bones to break down faster than it can rebuild itself and osteoporosis will occur!

The only other way to impart mechanical forces on the bones and exercise the bones would be through muscular force resulting from the contraction of muscles attached to the skeleton. This type of stress can only occur through resistance training which primarily consists of exercising with resistance machines or doing weight training exercises with free weights. Like muscles, bones respond to this type of stress and become bigger and stronger. In addition, resistance training will increase the blood flow to the bones and results in hormonal changes which enhance bone nutrition and growth.

After reviewing all the facts, it seems clear that the only way you are going to prevent osteoporosis is by exercising your bones while providing adequate amounts of nutrients to your bones. This is simply accomplished through resistance training and a sensible diet. Can osteoporosis actually be reversed? According to recent studies, yes! Not only can you prevent bone loss through resistance training, you can rebuild bone mass that has been lost!

Keep in mind that resistance training is not 20 minutes of "toning" in an aerobics class. Resistance training must be done properly, using sufficient weight and completing an adequate number of sets and repetitions of different exercises for each muscle group in order to stress the bones so that bone density increases. These exercises should be nationally recognized as being biomechanically correct and be done with perfect form.

If you want to learn the nationally accepted guidelines for weight training for older adults, contact your local licensee of the Geri-Fit^® exercise program. For a list of licensees or to become one, call 1-888-GERI-FIT.