Osteoporosis Exercise by Michelle Aultman

Give me 5 mins and I will give you some workout suggestions to reduce weak bones.

An estimated 10 mil Americans have osteoporosis, and another 34 million have low bone mass, (osteopenia).  A disease with no symptoms, osteoporosis affects about 20 percent of men and 80 percent of women. Since bones gradually become weaker, they may break at a minor fall or, if left untreated, even from simple things like a sneeze. The commonest fracture sites are hip, wrist and spine, although any bone in the body could be affected.

A diagnosis of osteopenia or osteoporosis could be scary, leading most of us to stop exercisse because of fear it'll cause fractures. The reality is that people with low bone mass should make sure to exercise frequently. Being active has been shown to not only help prevent osteoporosis, but slow bone loss once it's already begun.

Before beginning a workout program, you should check with your physician for guidelines, as degree of bone loss determines exactly what exercise is best. Physicians can assess density of bone and fracture risk by scanning the body with a special kind of X-ray machine. Along with exercise, treatment may include dietary modifications and/or estrogen replacement therapy. The more knowledge you have about this condition, the more you can do to help prevent its onset.

To build strength and bone mass, both weight-bearing and resistance training exercises are ideal.  Weight-bearing workouts are those that require the bones to fully support your weight against gravity.  Examples are walking, jogging, stair climbing, dancing or using an elliptical exercise machine. Non-weight bearing exercises include biking, swimming, water aerobics and rowing.

Weight-bearing activities including walking less than 3 times a week can benefit the bones.

Resistance training places mechanical force (stress) on the body, that might increases bone density.

Start by lifting light weights, moving in a slow and controlled manner, increasing resistance when you become stronger.

It is usually recommended that folks with osteoporosis avoid the following kinds of activity:

•  Step aerobics and high-impact activities like running, jumping, tennis.
•  Activities that involve rounding, bending and twisting of the spine.
•  Moving the legs sideways or across the body, particularly when performed against resistance.
•  Rowing machines, trampolines.
•  Every movement that involves pulling on the head and neck.

Exercise Tips for osteoporosis

•  Even if you do not have osteoporosis, you must talk with your medical provider prior to starting an exercising program.
•  Make sure to warm up before beginning and cool-down at the end of every exercise session.
•  To find the best profit to your bone health, combine several different weight-bearing exercises.
• As you build strength, increase resistance, or weights, as an alternative to repetitions.
•  Make sure you drink plenty of water whenever exercising.
•  Vary the types of exercise that you try each week.
•  Combine weight bearing and resistance exercise with aerobic exercises to help improve your overall health.
• Bring your friend along to help you continue or in addition to this, bring your family and encourage them to be healthy.
• Add more work out to your day; take the stairs vs. the elevator, park further way, and walk to your co-worker's office rather than emailing.

Put LIVE into action!

Specific factors boost the likelihood of developing osteoporosis.

While a few of these risk factors are controllable, others aren't.  Risk factors that may be controlled are: Sedentary lifestyle, excess intake of protein, sodium, caffeine and/or alcohol, smoking, calcium and Vitamin D deficiencies and taking certain medicines.

Body size (small frame), gender, family history and ethnicity are risk factors that can't be controlled.

Women can lose approximately 20 percent of their bone mass in the five to seven years after menopause,
making them more vulnerable to osteoporosis. It is never too soon to begin thinking about bone mineral density.

About 85-90 percent of adult bone mass is acquired by age 18 in girls and 20 in boys.

Nutrition and Exercise for Healthy Bones in childhood and Adolescence

Much of the reserve of healthy bone is built in youth and before the age of 30. Women can be more subject to an inadequate foundation process at this time than men. Sufficient calcium intake,a balanced diet with a lot of vegetables and fruit and load-bearing exercise are the secrets of solid bone growth when you're young.

Then, with continued exercise into old age - and this applies to men as well -- bone density decline may be kept to a minimum. Although women will be the main focus of information about osteoporosis and low bone density (osteopenia),  some men are also seriously afflicted by this condition.

In case you do each of the right things while becoming an adult and into adulthood, your inherited characteristics - your genes - can present you with bones that are susceptible to osteoporosis. This is even greater reason to maximize your lifestyle to prevent poor bone health.

About the writer - Michelle Aultman writes for the elliptical workout for weight loss blog, her personal hobby blog focused entirely on suggestions to prevent osteoporosis trough workout at home.

Author's note: The info provided on this document are designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between a patient/site visitor and his/her doctor. Michelle Aultman has not professional intent and does not accept direct source of advertising coming from health or pharmaceutical businesses, doctors or clinics and websites. All content provided by her is based on her editorial judgment and  not driven by an advertising purpose.