How Exercise Improves Bone Density for Women 50+

Muscle and bone loss can seriously affect a person’s long-term health. Understanding how exercise improves bone density, especially for women 50+, is an important part of developing an exercise program that can help to prevent falls and the serious injuries that come with them.

Bone Loss and Aging

Studies are clear that as we age, we lose muscle strength and bone mass.

Scientific reports indicate that reduction in bone density for women in their 60s to 80s, can be as much as 2.1% a year.

According to some studies, more than 10 million Americans have osteoporosis—weak and porous bones—and 43 million more are at risk for it.  

The reduction in muscle mass leads to the loss of bone strength and density.

And so the downward health spiral begins.

The less muscle you have, the less strength you have. The less strength you have, the greater your chances of falling. If you have weak and porous bones, you are at a greater risk of serious injury—broken hips, wrists, etc.— if you fall.

Break a hip, and your risk of death goes up three-fold.

If you are over 50, you are likely to die within 12 months of suffering a hip fracture.

Adults in their 60s to 80s are more likely to die within 3 months of a hip fracture. And this risk stays with you for 10 years!

For women 50+, the risk of having brittle bones is even greater. This is because estrogen, which plays a key role in bone health, drops during menopause. 

Despite all this bad news, there is some good news.

And that is that there is something you can do to prevent bone loss.

How Exercise Improves Bone Density for Women 50+

Scientific studies have shown that consistent resistance training —with weights or bands or, to a lesser extent, bodyweight—can help to maintain, or increase your bone mass and bone density.

Plus, resistance training can help to prevent falls because it has been shown to increase balance and strength.

Because exercise stimulates bone formation, it can help to increase bone density.

Research shows that resistance training, as opposed to simple bodyweight exercises like walking, is superior for preserving bone mass and bone density.

Don’t misunderstand what is being said here.

Walking, jump rope, pushups and all kinds of other bodyweight exercises are fantastic for you, and they will give you some bone density benefits.

What the scientific reports are saying is that weight training is the best form of exercise for preserving or improving your bone mass.

Weight training or resistance training (whichever you prefer to call it) can help to slow down bone loss that comes with aging.

Resistance training works all of your muscles, thereby benefiting all of your bones.

Because of that, if you are woman over 50, you will want to incorporate weightlifting or another form of resistance training into your exercise program.

Bone Density Exercises

Now that we know we need resistance training to improve or prevent bone loss, which exercises should you do?

The answer is, “it all depends.”

There is (in my opinion) no “one-size-fits-all” workout program. Everything depends on your current fitness, your health conditions, what you can do and what you like to do.

That being said, there are some generalizations that we can make to give you a starting point.

1. Lift Some Heavy Sh**

You may have guessed that I’m going to recommend weight training. Whether it is with dumbbells, barbells, or machines at the gym. Lifting heavy (as in heavy for you) weights is a fantastic way to build muscle and improve bone density.

Keep in mind, however, that you need to do upper body and lower body weight training for the best effect.

I think that having a full body routine is probably the best way for most women over 50 to go with their weight training. Not only does it save you time with your lifting, but, as Sal Di Stefano from Mind Pump Media points out, “bro splits” (doing only upper body one day, then only lower body the next) were created by bodybuilders who were on steroids to maximize their recovery times. Since that’s not us, we don’t need to do upper/lower body splits. A full body routine lets you work out more frequently while hitting all body parts.

(For more information on how this works, contact me.)

2. Grab a jump rope

Jumping—which is a weight bearing not a weight training exercise—is extremely beneficial for building bone density.

It is a high-impact exercise that stimulates bone growth. It’s also fantastic for your cardiovascular health.

A bunch of cautions here: if you have osteoporosis or have had broken bones, don’t jump into this. Seek advice from your doctor. Also, if you are able to jump rope, go easy. Do not underestimate how difficult it is not only to coordinate your movements, but to build the cardiovascular endurance necessary to get up to 10 minutes of jumping rope. Go slowly and build over time.

3. Consider isometric holds

A relatively new exercise approach (even though the understanding that high-intensity resistance exercise and impact stimulates bone density acquisition is not new) is a system of doing isometric holds with heavy weight (again, what is heavy for you) for about 10-20 seconds at the most difficult part of the move.

So, if you were doing a bicep curl, you would hold the weight (as heavy as you can) for 10-20 seconds at the top of the curl. (Not at the top of your shoulders – at the top of the move which should be when your elbows are parallel to the ground).

Featured by Tony Robbins in his book, Life Force, this form of strength training, called “osteogenic loading” can be a very helpful supplement to your workout routine. And it has the advantage of taking mere minutes to complete!

These are just some basic ideas that may help you get started on your way to improving your bone density. There are, of course, a ton of other health and fitness facts you should consider plus a gazillion exercises you can do.

Find it all a bit overwhelming?

Don’t worry.

I’m Here to Help. Helping Women Over 50 Build Strength and Transform Their Lives and Bodies is What I Do.

At Strength & Balance for Seniors, I help women over 50 transform their lives and bodies one rep at a time. I work with clients one-on-one and provide the individualized attention you need to reach your fitness, health, and longevity goals. I offer both virtual Personal Training via Zoom, and in-person Personal Training to select clients in the Bay Area.  Connect with me here or over on Facebook.