Exercise and osteoporosis: Staying active safely
Whether you already have osteoporosis or you're trying to prevent it, physical activity can help. Exercise can slow bone mineral loss, help maintain posture and improve your overall fitness. The key is to know which exercises to do and how to do them properly — and safely.
The types of activities and exercises that are best for you are based on your goals, overall health status, degree of bone loss and what you enjoy doing.
Getting started
If you already have osteoporosis, consult your doctor before starting an exercise program. Depending on the status of your condition, your doctor may or may not recommend certain movements. Your doctor may also wish to measure your bone density or assess your fitness level.
Next, set your goals. What do you hope to achieve from regular exercise? Your goals for being physically active may be associated with:
Increasing your ability to carry out daily tasks and activities
Maintaining or improving your posture and balance
Relieving or lessening pain
Preventing falls and fractures
Increasing your sense of well-being
Finally, think about what kind of activities you enjoy most. If it's an exercise you enjoy, you're more likely to stick with it over time.
Choosing the right exercises
Often a combination of activities can help prevent or treat osteoporosis. All are designed to provide benefits while minimizing your risk of an osteoporotic fracture while you exercise. Exercises typically include:
Weight-bearing activities. These include activities you do on your feet with your bones supporting your weight. Walking, jogging and stair climbing are examples. They work directly on the bones in your legs, hips and lower spine to slow mineral loss. If you have osteoporosis, walking — preferably at least a mile a day — is generally the best weight-bearing exercise because it minimizes impact stress on your bones.
Strength training. Strength training uses resistance, such as free weights, weight machines, resistance bands and water activities, to strengthen your muscles. It can also work directly on your bones to slow mineral loss. If you have osteoporosis, you'll need the assistance of your doctor or physical therapist to design a strength training program that includes proper techniques and is appropriate for your degree of bone loss.
Back-strengthening exercises. These exercises primarily work on muscles rather than bone. Strengthening your back muscles may help treat osteoporosis by maintaining or improving your posture. That's because the stooped posture caused by osteoporotic compression fractures may increase pressure along your spine, which can lead to even more compression fractures. Exercises that gently arch your back — the opposite direction of a stooped posture — can strengthen back muscles while minimizing stress on your bones.
You can do weight-bearing activities every day. If you're strength training, aim for at least two, but no more than four, exercise sessions a week to gain the most benefit. You can do back stretches daily, but for back-strengthening exercises, follow the guidelines for strength training. Also, avoid working the same back muscles on consecutive days.
Staying safe: Avoid risky movements
If you don't have osteoporosis and you're otherwise healthy, exercises to prevent osteoporosis are generally safe. If you have low bone density or already have osteoporosis, a few precautions are necessary when you exercise or perform regular activities. Certain movements may be dangerous because of the stress they put on your spine.
Forward bending. Avoid activities and exercises that involve bending forward excessively at your waist because they increase the risk of compression fractures of your vertebrae — the small bones in your spinal column.
Heavy lifting. Avoid heavy lifting — especially when bending forward at the waist — which may include lifting loads of laundry, bags of groceries or exercise weights. Such lifting also increases stress on your vertebrae.
Twisting. Twisting movements can place unusual force on your spine. Golfing and bowling are two common sports that involve twisting and may be harmful. Talk with your doctor or physical therapist about whether you can safely participate in these sports.
High-impact activities. Activities that involve higher impact movements, sudden stops and starts, and abrupt weight shifts put too much stress on your spine and can lead to falls and knee injuries. Such activities include running, soccer, racket sports, volleyball and basketball.
Sometimes you can't avoid certain movements, such as bending forward or reaching overhead. But you can use caution and practice good posture and body mechanics to decrease your risk of injury.
http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/HQ/00643.html
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