If you have osteoporosis, you may think that doing exercise will lead to fracture. However, using your muscles in fact helps protect your bones! You’re never too old, and it’s never too late to start exercising no matter your level of osteoporosis diagnosis. In postmenopausal women, regular exercise activity can; increase muscle strength, improve balance, decrease the risk of bone fracture, maaintain or even improve posture and decrease or alleviate pain. If you have osteoporosis or osteopenia you want to find the safest, enjoyable activities for you given your overall health and amount of bone loss. There’s no recommendation that works for everyone.
Here are some tips to help you develop your Osteoporosis Exercise Plan.
Step 1: Consult Your Doctor
Anytime you want to make a major change to your physical health you want to consult your doctor before starting any exercise program especially due osteoporosis. It would be good to ask you doctor for tests first, including: Bone density measurement and a fitness assessment.
Step 2: Consult a Osteoporosis Exercise Specialist
One you get a baseline for your doctor and your doctor gives you the green light for weight bearing exercises you want to reach out to a trainer or facility like OsteoStrong that specializes in exercising that works to strengthen and measure your progress toward building bone strength.
Step: 3 Consult a Nutritionist
Proper diet can improve your bone health. And it’s not too late to start! Calcium is a building block of bone tissue and Vitamin D helps the body absorb and process calcium. Combined, these two nutrients are the cornerstone of healthy bones. Vitamin D deficiency is common in all ages as there are few foods that contain vitamin D. You can find it in milk and some yogurts are fortified with it. Consult a nutritionist who can help make sure you get the right nutrients along with any other dietary needs you have.
Step 4: Set Goals & Benchmarks
It is important to start small and reset your goals as you go. If you want to improve your dexa scan score, make sure you know your baseline and what is realistic for another scan in a year or two years. Adding regular exercise and improving your diet to make sure you’re getting your bones enough nutrients will set yourself up for success to achieve the goals you set.
Step 5: Start with Gentle Exercises
It is recommended for people with osteoporosis to start with gentle exercises including strength training exercises, especially those for the upper back. Weight-bearing aerobic activities are also great including walking and hiking. Flexibility exercises paired with stability and balance exercises will help improve your fitness in more aspects of your life.
If you have osteoporosis, start by asking your doctor which activities are safe for you. Your doctor may not be aware of our program, so make sure to let them know about us if you are interested in giving us a try and they can let you know their thoughts for Osteoporosis Treatment.
OsteoStrong can help evaluate and customize an Osteoporosis Exercise Plan tailored to your needs. If you are local to the Seattle, WA area, our OsteoStrong center here on Mercer Island can help evaluate and customize a fitness program tailored to your needs. In as little as 10 minutes per week with one of our coaches, you will be on your way to improving your osteoporosis symptoms through the strengthening of your bone density and muscles.
Claim your free session with us today.