Osteoporosis is a serious medical condition that causes your bones to become weaker over time. Your bones consist of a bony matrix that has spaces. If you do not consume enough calcium in your daily diet, your body will take the calcium from the bones, enlarging the spaces between your bone matrix and weakening your bones. Exercises that involve impact, such as jogging, can help to prevent and treat osteoporosis.
Risk Factors
Your bones typically reach their peak bone mass at age 30, according to the Mayo Clinic. After this point, you begin to lose this bone mass, and the rate at which you lose it depends upon a number of factors. One is how much you exercise. A sedentary lifestyle increases your rate of bone loss. Lifestyle-related risk factors also include not consuming enough calcium, using tobacco, consuming excess alcohol and taking certain medications. Factors you cannot change include gender -- women are more likely to experience osteoporosis -- family history of osteoporosis, age and small frame, which reduces the amount of bone you have available.
Function
Impact activities like jogging help to prevent and treat osteoporosis because they cause your muscles to work against gravity, according to the Cleveland Clinic. This exercise causes the bones to remodel, strengthening the bones to support the exercise. Engaging in 30 minutes of impact exercise for four days per week can help to increase bone mass or decrease the rate of bone loss in those who have osteoporosis, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation.
Considerations
If you have been diagnosed with osteoporosis or osteopenia, a sign of beginning osteoporosis, it is important to receive clearance from your physician before beginning any exercise program. While high-impact activities like jogging can help to build healthy bones, if your bones are too soft, your risk for injury may be too significant. To prevent overuse injury, it is a good idea to vary the types of exercises you perform.
Benefits
Jogging's ability to increase bone mass makes it beneficial for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. If you have been diagnosed with osteoporosis, jogging can help prevent osteoporosis-related bone breakage by strengthening the muscles in the back and spine. Stronger muscles are able to better support and stabilize the back, better protecting the bones from breakage, according to "Human Anatomy and Physiology." If a person with weak muscles and bones lifts a heavy box, she is more likely to experience bone breakage than a person who has stronger muscles and weak bones because the muscles are better able to support the load. Jogging also improves balance. Falls can break bones; improved balance can reduce the likelihood a fall will occur, lessening the chance of breaking a bone.
Program
If you are currently inactive or a beginning exerciser, it is important to gradually begin a jogging program to prevent injury. Warm up with a five-minute walk and then start lightly jogging, hitting your foot from heel to toe. Alternate jogging with walking: do one minute of jogging, then two minutes of walking, for 30 minutes. If you currently exercise, increasing the intensity or duration of your jogging program can further strengthen bones and muscles.
References
- Mayo Clinic: Exercising with Osteoporosis
- Cleveland Clinic: Menopause and Osteoporosis
- Mayo Clinic: Osteoporosis
- University of Arizona: Exercise
- International Osteoporosis Foundation: Exercise
- "Human Anatomy and Physiology"; Elaine Marieb, Ph.D.; 2010
