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Osteoporosis Osteoporosis Prevention

Exercise for Bone Health

Summary & Participants

Exercise is an essential part of preventing osteoporosis, and there are certain exercises that are particularly effective in keeping bones healthy and decreasing the risk of fractures. Join rheumatologist Paula Rackoff as she discusses which exercises are most useful in an osteoporosis prevention plan.

Medically Reviewed On: June 18, 2008

Webcast Transcript

PAULA RACKOFF, MD: The balance training ones are not, but the free weightlifting would be resistance training exercises.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: How is this exercise actually preventing the bone loss? What is it actually doing?

PAULA RACKOFF, MD: The more you use an individual bone and joint, the greater the bone density. The perfect examples are tennis players. If you measure a tennis player's bone density in his or her right arm and they use their right arm to play tennis, that arm will have a greater bone density than the left arm, which is really just used for the toss.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: Now, does this only work for people who are a little bit older and maybe they're losing their bone mass at a higher rate, or does this actually help when people are younger?

PAULA RACKOFF, MD: Actually, it's a really important question, because the greater your bone density when you're younger, the greater the bone density you'll have when you're getting older, so it's really important that children and teenagers exercise regularly, and they're really the ones who should be playing field hockey, soccer and jogging and really maximizing their bone density.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: Does it make a difference in people who have a genetic predisposition to this disease?

PAULA RACKOFF, MD: It's just that much more important. If you had a mother or a grandmother who had a hip fracture and you're aware of that as a kid, you should be out there jogging and being as active as you can.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: Are there any exercises a person shouldn't do?

PAULA RACKOFF, MD: For patients or people who already know that they have osteoporosis, the exercise you really don't want to do is flexion and extension of the back, because that can actually put so much stress on the spine that you could cause a vertebral fracture.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: What does that mean, "flexion and extension?"

PAULA RACKOFF, MD: Bending backwards and forwards.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: So people should not do that?

PAULA RACKOFF, MD: Not excessively.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: Any final comments about exercise and osteoporosis?

PAULA RACKOFF, MD: The only other thing to be aware of is that there are different parts of the country where kids exercise too much, and certainly for a young, growing girl there's a risk of becoming so addicted to exercise that a girl can lose her menstrual cycle, and then it becomes a serious problem.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: Does that set her up for osteoporosis?

PAULA RACKOFF, MD: Yes, actually. That increases her chance for not being able to attain her best peak bone density.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: So moderation?

PAULA RACKOFF, MD: Moderation, but active.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: Thanks for being here.

PAULA RACKOFF, MD: Thank you.

DAVID R. MARKS, MD: Thank you for joining our webcast. I'm Dr. David Marks. Goodbye.

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