JILL BARKER
More than 80 per cent of all fractures in the 50-plus crowd are caused by bones too brittle to deal with what life throws their way
Weight-bearing exercise can help slow down bone loss
For most Canadians, there’s no ignoring the signs of aging. Wrinkles around the eyes, grey at the temples and joints that take a little longer to warm up — the body isn’t shy at letting you know the decades are adding up.
Yet, when it comes to bones, the first sign that there’s something wrong is usually only after a sudden break, which is why osteoporosis is called the silent thief. More than 80 per cent of all fractures in the 50-plus crowd are caused by bones too brittle to deal with what life throws their way. And for anyone who thinks osteoporosis is a women’s-only concern, one in five men will suffer a fracture due to low bone mass. And at this time of year when icy sidewalks, parking lots and walkways increase the risk of falling, it pays to have bones strong enough to withstand the impact of a sudden fall.
Bone built in the first two decades of life start thinning in your 30s, a trend that accelerates as middle age approaches. Women moving toward menopause will see an even greater rate of bone loss, which if left unchecked leaves bones less resilient and more prone to fracture.
Lora Giangregorio, a member of the Scientific Advisory Council for Osteoporosis Canada and winner of the 2015 edition of the Bloomberg Manulife Prize for the Promotion of Active Health, is a proponent of using exercise to slow down bone loss that she says is minimized through workouts that include weigh-bearing exercise, strength training, balance training and exercises designed to improve posture.
Giangregorio, who’s an associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of Waterloo, admits that including all those elements into a weekly workout routine is a challenge. To help carve out the time necessary to get it all done, she suggests cutting back on aerobic exercise in favour of adding more strength, balance and postural training into your routine.
Does that mean swimmers, cyclists and paddlers — who lack the impact stress recommended to slow bone loss — are at a greater risk for osteoporosis?
“We need to think about the broad benefits of aerobic physical activity, so if they like what
they’re doing, they should stick with it,” said Giangregorio. “But swimmers, cyclists and paddlers should think about devoting one or two days a week to weightbearing exercise and improving posture and muscle strength.”
That means switching up a non-impact workout to include more strength training along with some Pilates or yoga to improve posture.
As for runners, don’t get too smug because you think pounding the pavement is enough to keep bones strong. According to Giangregorio, bone adaptation is site specific. That means runners may have strong hip bones but the spine, shoulder and wrists, which are common sites of osteoporotic fractures, aren’t getting the same stimulus.
The answer for runners is to do the same as swimmers, cyclists and paddlers and revamp your workout routine to include strength and postural training.
“You need diversity in the exercise you do,” said Giangregorio who said different and unusual magnitudes of loading is the secret to maximizing bone health.
As for novice exercisers in their middle years or beyond, building a workout routine with all the elements necessary to slow down bone loss is a priority. For this population Giangregorio has created a series of videos profiling different age groups, all with a risk of osteoporosis, and provides examples of exercise routines that match their interests and lifestyle. She’s also created a booklet with tips for designing a bone-healthy exercise routine.
When it comes to exercises that should be avoided by anyone with thinning bones the list is purposely short — what’s high risk for some can be managed by others.
That said, any exercise that puts excessive load on fragile bones should be avoided. So, too, should exercises that increase the risk of falling or that challenge stability. This is good advice to keep in mind when attempting high-impact exercise, which while good for the bones can mean an added risk of falling.
All of this talk about risk doesn’t mean that bone-healthy exercise has to be boring.
“Providing restrictions to exercise is a disincentive to being active,” said Giangregorio who says a discussion with your physician regarding exercise guidelines followed by hiring a physical therapist or exercise professional knowledgeable enough to design a bone-friendly workout is the ideal way to get the most bang from your exercise buck.
To ensure that fitness and health-care professionals can effectively prescribe exercise to clients with osteoporosis, Giangregorio created educational materials for doctors, fitness trainers and physical therapists as well as workshops for those who do hands-on work.
The goal is to make sure that exercise provides not just the fitness needed to stay healthy but bones strong enough to support an active lifestyle.
You need diversity in the exercise you do. Different and unusual magnitudes of loading is the secret to maximizing bone health. Lora Giangregorio