Osteoporosis is a medical condition that leads to the weakening of a person’s bone density. When bone loss begins to outpace the rate of new healthy bone growth, your bones can become thinner and more brittle, putting you at risk for fractures. The condition tends to be more common in women and older adults, but it’s imperative that you don’t shy away from activity if you start to experience some bone loss. Becoming sedentary can lead to even more physical issues.
So you know that you need to stay active if you have osteoporosis or the early stages of bone loss, but you also need to do so safely. What’s the best way to achieve this? In today’s blog, we share some tips for safely exercising if you have osteoporosis.
Safe Exercise With Osteoporosis
Exercise is extremely important for people of all ages, but that’s especially true for older adults who are dealing with osteoporosis. That’s because regular exercise can help to:
- Improve muscle strength
- Improve posture
- Improve balance
In combination with one another, these factors can all help to decrease your fall and your fracture risk, which is vitally important if you have osteoporosis. But because your bones are a bit more brittle, you want to make sure that your exercise routine doesn’t contribute to injury or fracture.
One of the best ways to develop a safe and effective exercise routine is by working with a physical therapist. We can assess your strengths and weaknesses and tailor an exercise routine to your specific needs. It’s always a good idea to connect with a specialist to ensure that any routine you pursue is safe given your osteoporosis diagnosis, but odds they’ll recommend some of the following tips:
- Strength Training With Low Impact Exercises – Low impact exercises will be less strenuous on your body, but they can still be great for improving muscle and soft tissue strength. Exercises like walking or swimming can be great low impact exercises that won’t overly increase your risk of a fall or a fracture.
- Flexibility Training – You can also develop muscles and soft tissues that support your bones by taking part in some flexibility exercises. Yoga is perhaps the most popular form of flexibility training, but you can also work to improve your range of motion through some resistance band exercises. Resistance band training is helpful because you can adjust the level of resistance to suit your individual needs.
- Balance Training – A physical therapist can also set you up with some exercises that aim to improve your balance and coordination. Your fracture risk may be increased because of your osteoporosis, but your fall risk will be lowered by working to become more balanced and coordinated. One legged exercises are perfect for building your balance.
If you have osteoporosis or early stage bone loss, consider connecting with a physical therapist to help develop your strength, flexibility and balance, as these three factors will go a long way in reducing your fracture risk now and in the future. To find a physical therapist who can help you improve all of these factors, reach out to the team at OrthoRehab Specialists today at (612) 339-2041.
PT of Costa Rican National Soccer Team for 2007 World Cup in Victoria, CAN. Clinical Instructor for University of Minnesota Doctor of Physical Therapy Affiliations
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