Strength Train to Prevent Osteoporosis?
One of the major benefits of strength training and weight lifting is that it can actually improve your bone health and therefore prevent osteoporosis.
This can be especially important for women (due to osteoporosis) but it is also important for men as well. We all want strong, healthy bones! Movements that cause bone impact (hiking, dancing…etc) cause our bones to reinforce themselves which makes them stronger. Weight lifting is literally one of the best methods to do this!
Prevent Osteoporosis Naturally
Lifting Can Increase Bone Health
As I said earlier, women really need to concentrate on strength training in order to increase their bone density and fight osteoporosis (but this also applies to men).
Because falling is one of the leading causes of osteoporosis-related injury, you need to pick exercises that really focus on balance as well. Strength training movements that require balance might be a perfect strategy.
Strength training, in general, has been found to reverse the effects of osteoporosis by actually increasing spinal column bone mass by 9 percent in postmenopausal women after one year according to the McMaster University study!
Get this; one study was outlined by researchers in the book Prescription Alternatives in which they said, “In a recent study on bone density and exercise, older women who did high-intensity weight training two days per week for a year were able to increase their bone density by 1 percent, while a control group of women who did not exercise had a bone density decrease of 1.8 to 2.5 percent.”
The women who exercised also had improved muscle strength and better balance, while both decreased in the non-exercising group.
Prevent Osteoporosis: Bone Training
As stated earlier, when it comes to training to improve bone density, exercises and activities that put the most impact on your bones make them stronger by causing them to reinforce themselves (don’t hurt yourself though).
To increase the density of your bones, strength training your entire body 3 times a week. Three workouts a week keep you active, increases your balance, builds strength, burns calories, and don’t take up your whole week (therefore becoming a hassle).
On the days you aren’t working out, you can hit the nearest trails and go for a hike or a jog! Other alternatives include dancing and even running!
This doesn’t apply solely to women! Guys can weight train to increase their muscle and bone strength as well.
Especially as we age, it’s very important for women and men to weight train to improve their strength and balance in order to live a full, healthy, independent life!
Wrap-Up
For the elderly or people who already have osteoporosis, CONSULT your physician before starting a weight lifting regime! They can set you up with a safe routine that will help increase your muscle and bone strength safely.
The amount of bone growth that strength training can induce is incredible. So what do we take from all of this? Ladies (and gentlemen), pick up the weights for the sake of your bones!
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