Prevention: Exercise

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The bone health benefits of exercise include:

Feedback: There are a number of bone health benefits associated with exercise - as long as the individual is following the bone-safe principles

The Bone Safe Principles to follow are:

Feedback: Everything, from daily activities to exercise starts with proper alignment! Then add movement while maintaining the proper alignment - this involves core strength. Finally, leg strength is critical to maintain balance and prevent falls.

One of the main principles of bone-safe alignment is?

Feedback: Alignment starts with a solid base at the feet with the hips and spine stacked on top. A neutral spine is neither extended nor flexed with optimal length between the ribs and pelvis and between the ears and shoulders. The ears, shoulders and hips should align.

Studies have shown that benefits from spine extensor strengthening exercises continue even 10 years after exercises are stopped.

Feedback: Extension exercises studied by Sinaki demonstrated the positive benefits of fracture prevention even after subjects discontinued the exercises when compared to sedentary subjects.

What exercise correlates with increased bone density and decreased vertebral fractures?

Feedback: Sinaki's studies showed that back extensor muscle strength correlated with improved bone density and decreased risk of fractures in the vertebral bodies of the spine.

On average, after menopause how much bone density or bone mass do women lose every year?

Feedback: Age related bone loss can be relatively slow - but can accelerate due to secondary causes. Women need to take steps, especially around menopause to reduce bone loss. This bone loss is also accompanied by a 1% loss in leg strength per year. Women can lose 25-30% of their bone mass during peri-menopause. Gourlay, et al, 2012. Bone-Density Testing Interval and Transition to Osteoporosis in Older Women NE Journal of Medicine.

A decrease in walking speed and leg strength are the top predictors of nursing home placement.

Feedback: Crossing signals are set for a pace of 1.4 meters/second or about 4.5 feet/second. If a person walks any slower than this, they can't cross the street in time. As people get slower, they often begin to shuffle their feet and may fall because they are not striking with the heel first. Guralnick JM, et al 1994, Gill et al 1995, Studenski et al 2003, Guralnick et al 2000 Decrease in walking speed and leg strength are the top predictors of nursing home placement.

Which of the following is the best exercise to increase bone density?

Feedback: Although walking is excellent for maintaining bone density, preventing bone loss, and reducing the risk of hip fracture, it does not "surprise" the bones enough to stimulate bone formation. Weight training will overload and stimulate bone formation cells - the osteoblasts.

Which of the following is a way to strengthen bone?

Feedback: People should do some type of cardiovascular activity to keep the heart and circulatory system healthy. Walking also improves balance and overall health and well-being. To improve muscle strength and bone health they should use enough resistance to "tire" or fatigue the muscle within 10 reps. Stress on the muscles "pulls" on the bones and helps stimulate osteoblasts.

Which of these movements is safe for someone with low bone density or osteoporosis?

Feedback: Extension exercises, like backward bending, help strengthen the back muscles and encourage good alignment. Forward bending done properly requires incredible flexibility in the hips and should be avoided unless with a "straight" or neutral spine. Spinal twists and side bending should never be done with a "torqueing" motion.