Fight Off Osteoporosis

We were visiting England for Christmas. One evening after dinner I was asked if anything could be done to increase bone density.  The answer, if you are just  starting to see a reduction in bone density, is to jump  as the video shows.

The video shows you a progression in exercises:

• start with stomping while sitting down
• then stand up and stomp some more
• carry on to hopping
• now you are ready for jumping
• finally skipping (skipping without a rope works the bones just as well as with a rope - and safer if indoors).

The lady asking the question, around 40, had just had a first bone density scan and it had come back showing osteopenia. The person in question walks the dog every day but this was obviously not enough to keep bone density high.

She was quite definite, joining a gym was not going to be the answer. What, if anything, could she do at home ?

As a result this short video was made (2 1/2 minutes) and this blog talking about what her (and possibly your) options might be.

All, or nearly all women, will see a reduction in bone density through the latter decades of life with a really sharp drop in bone density in the few years around menopause. Reduced bone density is known as osteopenia and later when the reduction becomes severe it's called osteoporosis. 

If you are already into osteoporosis, jumping probably has too many dangers and you should restrict yourself to stomping and hopping, because there is the danger that these exercises might cause a bone fracture.

The research seems to show that twice a day has more effect than once a day but three times a day is no more effective than twice a day. So twice a day is the target. Do these bone strength exercises at least 8 hours apart - so morning and evening seem just about right.

About 20 to 40 stomps (in one session), hops, skips or jumps are all you need to signal to your bones to get stronger. So the recipe is 20 stomps, etc. twice a day.

Start off cautiously, talking to your doctor about this is always a good idea, with just 2 or 3 stomps on each leg. Then over the weeks you can gradually build up. Add in a few hops then a few jumps and finally add in just a few skips. The video shows the lady jumping in shoes on a carpet. Over a period of several months, if the exercise is causing no pain, you can think about jumping on bare boards.

It doesn't sound like too much does it ? One problem is that people can think that it doesn't sound enough and do 30 minutes of jumping. This video is aimed at someone who wants to preserve bone strength and bone density not at someone aiming to be an Olypic athlete. Two or three minutes in the morning and another two or three in the evening is all you need for bone strength.

Strangely enough the usual strength training workouts to increase muscle strength seem to have no impact on bone strength. So you need to think about 2 different workout styles - one for muscle strength which will take 20 to 40 minutes andthe entirely different style of workout for bone density.

Cardio workouts like walking, swimming, aquatics, elipticals, low-impact aerobic do not do much, if anything for bone strength. High-impact aerobics will increase bone density but you do not need an hour of high-impact to increase bone density.

The video shows someone in the corner of her living room just getting up and doing the bone strengthening exercises. You don't need to get changed into exercise clothes and the TV can stay on - just like in the video.

To complement these bone density exercises you probably need to do some balance exercises and also some stretching. Of course you'll need some cardio for heart health and some muscles strengthening.