Can You Improve Osteoporosis with Exercise? What Is the Best Weight-Bearing Exercise for Osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis develops when the cells responsible for breaking down bone become more active than those responsible for forming it, placing you at risk of fracture. Osteoporosis is a serious health issue, likely to afflict half of all women and a quarter of all men above 50.

If you have osteoporosis, exercise can help you strengthen your bones as well as reduce your chances of falling by helping improve your balance.

However, before commencing any exercise programme, you must first take your doctor's approval. Based on your fitness, age and other physical constraints, your doctor will be able to recommend the best workout for you.

While most exercises are good for your overall health, not all of then are good for your bones. Weight-bearing workouts, for example, can help you create strong bones. These workouts put strain on your bones, though, testing your muscular strength against gravity.

As a result, your bones will send out signals to your body to make more tissue to strengthen your bones.

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Why weight-bearing exercise for osteoporosis is important?

Weight-bearing exercise for osteoporosis assists in maintaining strong bones by stimulating the release of hormones that encourage bone formation. Younger people have the highest bone density, especially those who move about a lot and participate in sports and physical exercises.

Weight-bearing exercise for osteoporosis can help halt the loss of density in your bones as you become older. Exercise appears to help enhance bone density by triggering pathways in the body that lead to bone creation, according to research.

Bone density can be improved by doing any weight-bearing exercise for osteoporosis. Bones remodel according to Wolff's Law, which says that bones adapt to the pressure they are subjected to. If you do weight bearing activity on a regular basis, your bones will remodel to improve their tolerance to stress, resulting in increased bone density and fracture resistance.

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Ways to improve osteoporosis: Must-try weight-bearing exercises for osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a disorder that affects your bone health.

It can cause bone loss or insufficient bone formation, resulting in weakened bones that are more readily shattered. Ageing, changes in hormone production, such as menopause, smoking and dietary variables, and certain drugs raise the risk of contracting osteoporosis.

You can try the following weight-bearing exercise to prevent osteoporosis:

1) Foot stomp

The purpose of weight-bearing exercise for osteoporosis is to challenge the key regions of your body that are mostly affected by the disease, such as your hips. Foot stomps are one approach to exercise your hip bones.

Here is how to do this:

• Stomp your feet while standing, pretending to smash an imaginary can beneath it.
• Rep the exercise four times on one foot before switching to the other.
• If you're having trouble keeping your equilibrium, grab a railing or a substantial piece of furniture.

2) Chair stand

Chair stand is a great weight-bearing exercise for osteoporosis. This is one of the most effective exercises for keeping yourself strong and independent.

To do this:

• Place the chair next to a wall.
• Sit on the chair, and place your feet flat on the floor.
• Place your hands on your shoulders, and cross your arms.
• Slowly rise up, using your legs rather than your hands, keeping your back and shoulders straight.
• Return to your seat slowly.

3) Stair climbing

Climbing stairs can help you develop your muscles, improve your balance and your cardiovascular health. It is also an efficient weight-bearing exercise for osteoporosis.

To do this exercise:

• Slowly walk up and down the stairs of your choice for 3-4 minutes at a warm-up pace. That warms up your heart and lungs in preparation for the workout.
• For 1-2 minutes, walk at a medium pace. That will prepare you to work hard by breaking in your system, both physically and emotionally.
• You can switch to a fast pace, when you feel ready.

4) Standing on one leg

Standing on one leg is a great weight-bearing exercise for osteoporosis. This activity helps to improve balance.

To do this exercise:

• If you need to grasp something, stand on one foot for a minute with a firm piece of furniture nearby.
• Rep the exercise with the opposite leg.

Key Takeaway

It's vital to know which workouts can benefit you and the ones you should avoid. Hiking, jumping rope, climbing and sprinting, for example, can place too much stress on your bones and raise the risk of fractures.

High-impact activities, also known as high-intensity exercises, can put too much strain on your spine and hips, as well as increase your chances of falling. Unless you've been doing them for a while, you should avoid them.

Sit-ups and golfing, for example, both involve leaning forward or turning the trunk of your body, which increases the risk of osteoporosis fractures.