Osteoporosis - the Exercise Connection

There are many factors that affect whether or not you develop osteoporosis - heredity, diet and hormones among them - but exercise can go a long way to improving bone health.

Since bone is a living tissue, it reacts to what is happening in your body. Increasing the amount of exercise and load bearing you do will make it respond by growing stronger. High-impact weight-bearing exercise, like jogging, skipping or jumping, increases the density of the spine and hip bones, while weight-bearing exercise, like doing arm weights or press ups will improve bone density in the arms and wrists.

Shorts bursts of high impact exercise are actually better for building bone density than low impact work like walking, cycling, Pilates or swimming, although these forms of exercise are of undoubted benefit for other aspects of your health. The advantage of this is that you can rapidly accomplish all the exercise needed for bone health, fitting it in alongside your usual regime: just 50-100 star jumps a day, or running up and down the average staircase 10 times a day will do it.

Most people achieve their maximum bone mass at about the age of 30, but continuing with high-impact exercise beyond this age can improve matters further. For older people, milder forms of weight-bearing exercise, such as a gym workout, brisk walking, keep fit classes or a mild game of tennis should be sufficient and safe. Whatever your age, you can improve your bone density through weight-bearing exercise, even if you have been diagnosed as having low bone density (ostepenia), but the greatest benefits are achieved through prevention. Start exercising for healthy bones now, and you'll greatly increase your chances of enjoying a long active life.

For information on bone health and osteoporosis, visit the National Osteoporosis Society website.

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