A Diagnosis of Osteoporosis Can be Life-changing Here’s an Ounce of Prevention!

What a coincidence. May is National Correct Your Posture Month AND Osteoporosis Awareness month.

What’s a body to do? Well, here are a few of my top recommendations for prevention.

Exercise is a key ingredient for osteoporosis prevention. BUT, it’s very important to have good posture in your exercise program, so, for me, the first thing I recommend is learning how to “stand tall.”

I have a video on a process that will help you to stand tall.

One thing I know about exercises is that you must enjoy them, or you won’t continue doing them!

Once you have mastered how to stand tall, weight bearing exercises like walking, hiking, dancing, climbing stairs, and jumping are highly recommended. Remember to stand tall all through your exercises!

If you don’t like walking or hiking, then I highly recommend that you try out a “rebounder!” These are mini, personal trampolines that are fun to jump on and save your knees by making that jump softer. I have one and I love it! I can blast my favorite music, skip, jump, run, or dance on the trampoline to my heart’s content. In fact, the time goes by so fast that I feel like it didn’t take any time at all! It’s great fun!

In addition, weight training, which stimulates bone growth is also recommended. This type of exercise keeps our arms, legs, spine, and upper body strong.

If you want to make the most of your weight lifting, here are my top three exercises to have fun with:

Super Squats! You can hold a pair of hand weights while doing these, or not, depending on your personal strength. Here’s a photo, but please follow this link for specific directions on how to do these!

Warrior 2 Yoga pose is a type of lunge that’s safe for most people, yet a great exercise for osteoporosis prevention.

Stand tall next to a chair, so that you can hold onto it, if you have any balance issues.

Holding the chair with your right hand, step your right foot back, and make sure that you have a pretty large space between your legs.

Bring your left arm up in a straight line with your shoulder. (without tensing your shoulder) Look at your left hand and keep your focus there to help with balance.

Now, bend your knees so that you are squatting towards the floor. Remember to keep your weight even in both legs. No leaning over the left leg. The idea is to come straight down.  Here’s a photo of me in Warrior 2 without a chair.

Knee or wall pushups are great for building upper body strength. And don’t let anyone tell you you’re not doing pushups! EveryBODY is different, and there’s no need for someone to strain their shoulder or risk a rotator cuff injury. Here’s a couple of photos of me doing knee push ups in a way that works my upper body very well. The key is to make sure that you lift up your feet, and when you come down, it’s forward and down. As with any pushup, make sure that your shoulders are even. Don’t bring one shoulder down more than the other when you go toward the floor.

Now, if you can’t get down on your knees, try a wall push up! Keep your feet about hip width apart and move them away from the wall as far as what’s comfortable for you.

Place your hands so that they’re in front of your shoulders when you are closest to the wall. Remember not to bend at the waist. Bring your whole body toward the wall as you bend your elbows, keeping those elbows as close to the body as you can, then push away on an exhale, again, not bending at the waist.

If this feels too easy for you, bring your hands closer together, and feet a little bit farther away from the wall. When you’ve done about 10 of these, walk your feet closer to the wall before pushing away, to be safe.

And remember to have fun with it, so you’ll keep going!

Best of Health,

Kathi