Osteoporosis is a condition characterized by weakening of your bones and increased risks for bone fracture. Individuals with the disorder have significant decreases in their bone mass or bone mineral density. You can help offset the effects of osteoporosis with strength training exercises, which increase your muscle mass and encourage proper bone density.
Understanding Osteoporosis
Active cells in your bone tissue constantly remove old bone cells and replace them with newer cells. This process is known as bone remodeling. In individuals with osteoporosis, abnormal alterations in the remodeling process trigger bone thinning and its associated fracture risks. Lack of exercise is frequently a central risk factor in the development of osteoporosis. Other potential factors include female gender, advancing age, insufficient intake of vitamin D and/or calcium, alcohol abuse, smoking, low body weight, early onset of menopause and habitual use of corticosteroid medications.
Strength Training Effects
Strength training exercises increase your bone density by placing stress on your bones. In turn, this increase in bone density lowers your risks for the development of osteoporosis or helps improve your current symptoms. The bones in your body at greatest risk for osteoporosis-related fractures include your hips, spine and the radius in your forearm. An appropriate exercise program for osteoporosis protects these bones by creating sufficient strain or loading force on their associated muscles to trigger desired bone density increases.
Exercise Options
Forms of strength training include weightlifting with free weights or weight machines, water-based exercises and resistance band exercises that involve the use of elastic rubber tubes. These exercises achieve their effects by forcing your body to work against some form of resisting force. Certain low-intensity resistance or strengthening exercises like walking don't force your body to work hard enough to increase your bone density, reports Aetna's Women's Health. However, higher-intensity exercises like weightlifting provide a resisting force that can equal three or four times your body weight.
Developing Your Routine
To gain the benefits of strength training, perform exercise repetitions with a resisting force you can't easily manipulate. Typically, you will perform 8 to 12 repetitions of a given exercise at a time; these groupings of repetitions are also called exercise sets. During your osteoporosis routine, you will usually perform two to three sets of each exercise in your program. To gain sufficient benefit from your efforts, work out two to three days per week.
Considerations
Speak to your doctor before beginning your osteoporosis strength training program. In addition to strength training, potential activities in an osteoporosis treatment or prevention routine include balance and stability exercises, weight-bearing aerobic exercises and flexibility exercises. Ask your doctor for assistance in designing a program that includes components from each of these exercise categories.
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