Osteoporosis Archives - CORE Therapy & Pilates

Strengthen Your Bones: A Guide to Safe Exercise for Osteoporosis

Stephen Dunn — Wed, 12 Apr 2023 13:24:16 +0000

table of contents

What is osteoporosis?

What exercises should I avoid with osteoporosis?

What exercises should I do with osteoporosis?

Should I do resistance training with osteoporosis?

Pilates exercises to avoid with osteoporosis.

Pilates exercises to do with osteoporosis.

Consult with a Healthcare Professional

What is osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis is a condition that affects millions of people around the world, especially postmenopausal women. It is a progressive disease characterized by a loss of bone density and mass, which makes the bones more brittle and fragile. As a result, people with osteoporosis are at a higher risk of fractures, particularly in the hip, spine, and wrist.

What exercises should I avoid with osteoporosis?

Fortunately, exercise can help to prevent or slow down the progression of osteoporosis. However, not all exercises are safe for people with this condition. In this blog, we will summarize the precautions and exercises for people with osteoporosis, based on the recommendations of the National Osteoporosis Foundation and the American Council on Exercise.

Firstly, it is essential to understand that exercises that involve high-impact activities or forward flexion of the spine should be avoided. These activities can increase the risk of vertebral fractures in people with osteoporosis. Instead, low-impact exercises like Pilates, yoga, and resistance training are recommended.

What exercises should I do with osteoporosis?

As a physical therapist who has helped many patients with osteoporosis, I have seen the benefits of exercise firsthand. One of my clients, Mary, was diagnosed with osteoporosis in her early 60s. She was initially afraid to do any exercise, fearing that she would break a bone. However, with guidance and a customized exercise program, she was able to gradually increase her bone density and improve her overall strength and mobility.

hip hinge

One of the key exercises that we incorporated into Mary's program was a hip hinge. The hip hinge is a fundamental movement pattern that involves bending forward at the hips while keeping the spine in a neutral position. It is a safe and effective way to strengthen the posterior chain muscles, including the glutes, hamstrings, and lower back. The hip hinge also helps to improve posture and balance, which are important factors in preventing falls and fractures.

To perform a hip hinge, stand with your feet hip-width apart and a slight bend in your knees. Place your hands on your hips or in front of your thighs. Slowly hinge forward at the hips, pushing your glutes back and keeping your spine straight. You should feel a stretch in your hamstrings. Then, engage your glutes and push your hips forward to return to the starting position. Repeat for 10–12 repetitions.

shoulder bridge

Another exercise that is safe and effective for people with osteoporosis is the shoulder bridge. The shoulder bridge strengthens the glutes, hamstrings, and lower back while promoting spinal extension. To perform the shoulder bridge, lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Place your hands by your sides. Lift your hips off the ground, squeezing your glutes and hamstrings. Hold for a few seconds, then lower back down. Repeat for 10–12 repetitions.

While the hip hinge and shoulder bridge are safe for people with osteoporosis, there are certain exercises that should be avoided. These exercises include forward flexion of the spine, such as the roll-up and teaser in Pilates. The other Pilates exercises that are contraindicated are the hundred, the roll over, rolling like a ball, single leg stretch, spine stretch, corkscrew, open-leg rocker, saw, swan, neck pull, scissors, bicycle, spine twist, jackknife, seal, and boomerang.

Instead, exercises that promote spinal extension, such as the swan and cobra in Pilates, are recommended. ACE also suggests incorporating resistance training with light weights or resistance bands to help maintain bone density. Other Pilates exercises that are safe to do in a Pilates mat class are the double leg click, side kicks, hip circles, swimming, leg pulls to the front, leg pulls, side kicks kneeling, and the shoulder bridge.

Should I do resistance training with osteoporosis?

Incorporating Resistance Training

Resistance training is another great way to improve bone density, especially for individuals with osteoporosis. Research has shown that resistance training with weights or resistance bands can help to stimulate bone growth and maintain bone density.

When incorporating resistance training, it is important to start with light weights or resistance bands and gradually increase the intensity over time. It is also important to work with a certified personal trainer or physical therapist who can ensure proper form and technique to prevent injury.

Pilates exercises to avoid with osteoporosis.

As mentioned earlier, certain exercises should be avoided, especially those that involve high-impact activities or forward flexion of the spine.

The following Pilates mat class exercises are contraindicated and should be avoided by individuals with osteoporosis:

Roll-Up
Teaser
Hundred
Roll over
Rolling like a ball
Single leg stretch
Spine stretch
Corkscrew
Open-leg rocker

Saw
Swan
Neck pull
Scissors
Bicycle
Spine twist
Jackknife
Seal
Boomerang

It is also important to avoid high-impact activities such as jumping and running, as these can increase the risk of falls and fractures in individuals with osteoporosis.

Pilates exercises to do with osteoporosis.

Low-impact exercises such as Pilates, yoga, and resistance training are recommended for individuals with osteoporosis. The following Pilates mat class exercises are safe to do:

Double leg click
Side kicks
Hip circles
Swimming
Leg pulls to the front
Leg pulls
Side kicks kneeling
Shoulder bridge (mid-height)

These exercises promote spinal extension and help to improve posture and balance, which can reduce the risk of falls and fractures.

The Hip Hinge

In addition to the exercises mentioned above, incorporating the hip hinge into your exercise routine can also be beneficial for individuals with osteoporosis. The hip hinge is a movement pattern that involves hinging at the hips while keeping the spine in a neutral position. This movement is commonly used in exercises such as deadlifts, kettlebell swings, and squats.

The hip hinge is important because it strengthens the muscles in the back, hips, and legs, which are important for maintaining posture and balance. Research has also shown that the hip hinge can help to improve bone density in the lumbar spine, which is especially important for individuals with osteoporosis.

Case Study

To illustrate the effectiveness of exercise in improving bone density, let's take a look at the case study of one of my clients. Mary (not her real name) is a 65-year-old woman who was diagnosed with osteoporosis several years ago. She came to me seeking help in improving her bone density and reducing her risk of falls and fractures.

Together, we developed an exercise program that focused on low-impact exercises such as Pilates, yoga, and resistance training. We also incorporated the hip hinge into her daily routine of loading and unloading the dishwasher, doing laundry, and reaching below the sink.

After several years of consistent exercise, Mary's bone density had significantly improved, and she was no longer taking Fosamax. She had progressed from osteoporosis to osteopenia. She also reported feeling stronger, more balanced, and more confident in her daily activities, and she made great improvements that amazed her doctor. Most people digress with osteoporosis, but with the right exercise plan and consistency, Mary found great success.

Consult with a Healthcare Professional

As always, it is important to consult with a healthcare professional before starting any exercise program, especially if you have osteoporosis. A healthcare professional can help to determine which exercises are safe and appropriate for your individual needs and can also monitor your progress over time.

In conclusion, osteoporosis is a common condition that can be improved through exercise. Low-impact exercises such as Pilates, yoga, and resistance training are recommended while you incorporate hip hinges into your daily life.

Want to learn more about the silent disease known as osteoporosis? Call 512-215-4227 now to speak with our team about getting in for an evaluation with one of our physical therapists.

See what the Mayo Clinic has to say about osteoporosis.

Learn two easy weight-bearing exercises to do daily here...

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Osteoporosis Exercise for Strong Bones

Stephen Dunn — Thu, 19 Aug 2021 14:04:15 +0000

So what do you do now that you've been diagnosed with Osteoporosis? Are you looking for another option other than the medications that your doctor is talking to you about? Watch this video to learn how to improve your Osteoporosis in the natural way, through exercise, more specifically bone-building exercise.

Can you do me a favor and subscribe to my channel and click the bell so you're notified when all my content comes out. This will keep you up to date with all the latest tips and tricks on health and wellness. So what exercise should I do to improve my Osteoporosis?

By the end of this video, you will know two exercises to do at home with a chair to help improve your bone density. I've helped hundreds of patients over the last two decades as a physical therapist in my clinic and I look forward to helping you as well.

So what exercises should I do now that I'm diagnosed with Osteoporosis or Osteopenia? Well, the simplest answer is that we want to do bone-building weight-bearing exercises and we're going to go over two of those right now.

Bone building exercises with a chair

Sit to Stand

Our first exercise is going to be a sit-to-stand from a chair. So here I have a chair with armrests. We're going to do it two ways, without the armrest and with the armrest. And when we do a sit to stand we're going to think of keeping our spine straight leaning forward and coming straight up without using the hands and we're going to do that ten times. Exhale as you come up... two...

Fast forward to ten. You can also take that exercise and use it with your hands if it's too much of a challenge. Use your hands on the side lean forward and as you're leaning forward you're keeping your spine straight. So you're leaning from your hips, not your spine.

Alternating March

The next exercise we're going to do from behind the chair so we're going to bring the chair right in front holding on for balance and I'm going to hold on to it from the side and face this way.

I'm just going to do a hip lift or an alternating march and I'm tightening my abdominals as I lift my knee to my chest and by doing this we're strengthening the hip flexors of the spine, which are sitting right in the front of the spine and in front of the hip and most importantly we are working on balance on one hip while the other hip is lifting in the air.

So that my friend are two exercises to help with bone density by doing weight-bearing exercise.

Now I want you to comment below and tell me what you learned from this video. Now you won't see changes on your bone density scores for some time so I don't expect there to be an immediate change in that. But what did you learn and what can you implement into your life immediately?

Check on Amazon

So now go to amazon and download my book... "Retrain the Brain to Solve Back Pain, A Mindful Approach to Healing: The Dunn Method."

Now this book is catered to back pain but the reality is that all but two exercises in the last chapter are safe for Osteoporosis, so I could label this an Osteoporosis book and get rid of those two exercises which are basically flexion exercises or bending forward exercises that we discussed in our last video.

In the book, chapter 4 is the most important for those with Osteoporosis and it's the chapter with the dowel or the wooden stick behind your back. If you live in Austin, come take one of our reformer classes.

Our Pilates reformer classes are great for helping improve bone density and we've seen lots of success stories with it to improve Osteoporosis and Osteopenia. Be on the lookout for our next video in the Osteoporosis series

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Exercise For Osteoporosis Patients

Stephen Dunn — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 05:00:40 +0000

Have you been diagnosed with Osteoporosis? Overwhelmed with the doctor talking about medications to start taking? Watch this video to learn how to improve your Osteoporosis with a natural solution, exercise!

What exercises should I do and which should I avoid with Osteoporosis? By the end of this you will know the essential movement to avoid and one of the best bone-building exercises to help improve your condition.…

I’ve helped hundreds of patients with this condition over the past two decades and can’t wait to help you…

What is Osteoporosis? The Mayo clinic says… Osteoporosis causes bones to become weak and brittle — so brittle that a fall or even mild stresses such as bending over or coughing can cause a fracture. Osteoporosis-related fractures most commonly occur in the hip, wrist or spine.

What is the most important motion to avoid? Try this Bone Building Exercise.

Comment below and tell me what you learned from this video… It takes a long time to see changes on bone density tests so start here and keep learning.

Be on the lookout for the next video of my Osteoporosis series.

Now go to Amazon and download my book… "Retrain The Brain To Solve Back Pain. A Mindful Approach to Healing: The Dunn Method”…

It's a comprehensive home program for back pain but is Osteoporosis safe except for 2 flexion exercises in the last chapter. Chapter 4 is the most important long-term exercise program to keep up with. Get your paperback or Kindle version at https://amzn.to/3ypbbYH

Live in Austin? Come check out our Pilates Reformer classes to do bone-building exercises at CORE Therapy and Pilates...

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What Exercises To Do With Osteoporosis? Hip Hinge… Lunge Series…

Stephen Dunn — Mon, 29 Oct 2018 15:36:34 +0000

Today, I want to talk about osteoporosis. I started talking about this a couple of weeks ago, and I went over the contraindications of osteoporosis in a Pilates mat class. I want to go over that a little bit, but I want to build on that a little bit as well, because I’d spent more time talking about what not to do that time. Now, I’m going to spend a little bit more time talking about what to do. But let’s review what not to do.

If you have a diagnosis of osteoporosis, and your bones are demineralized, or they have less density within the vertebra of the spine. What you want to avoid in general is flexion, bending forward. So you want to avoid crunches. You want to avoid situps. You want to avoid doing the hundred in Pilates. You want to avoid Teaser in Pilates. You want to avoid rounding down to touch your toes. Again, these are things that you want to avoid because of the demineralization and the wedging of the vertebra where you can then fracture the vertebra fairly easily.

Now, I don’t want to scare you, but it’s one of those things that this is the one time where you have a brittle back. If you have osteoporosis, we want to be cautious, and we want to avoid those things that are going to be detrimental because what happens is you don’t know … Osteoporosis, you never know the severity of it. Until you have a fractured vertebra, and you’re out of commission for eight to 12 weeks. Until then, you don’t even know it’s a big deal, so we want to teach you some things to prevent that from happening.

Now, the next thing I want to talk about is what to do, and what to do is weight-bearing, bone-building exercises. What do I mean by weight bearing? Your body weight. The most important one is standing and working in this way. Now, I’m going to go on a little tangent here for a second. I had a patient recently went to her doctor, and her doctor … She told her doctor she was going to start coming in here to do some Pilates and some strengthening with me, and her doctor said, “No, don’t go to physical therapy, go to aquatic therapy.” where in water, you’re unweighted. So I don’t understand that idea. You want to be doing weight-bearing exercises.

Let’s go into what to do with having someone with osteoporosis, some simple-bone building, weight-bearing exercises. So come on over Jared. We got Dr. Jared in the house today, and what we’re going to do is we’re going to use this simple little dowel. It’s a wooden dowel. It’s about five bucks at Home Depot. But guess what else you can use, a simple broomstick or a golf club or whatever. So hold this behind your back, Jared, and I want you to hold it to where your fist is in this position like that.

Like this?

Yeah, that’s right. Now, in that position like that, what’s going on here is we’ve got a little bit of feedback for Jared so that he knows where his spine is in space. So now, I want you to turn and face me, and now in that position, perfect. What I want you to do is I want you to show him a hip hinge, and what this is-

Give me a bad one.

Let’s show him a bad one first. Okay, so this is a bad thing that you want to avoid. He’s just moving and bending his spine, so that’s the flexion that I was referencing earlier that we want to avoid. Now, show them a hip hinge of what should happen where the hips in the butt move. Yes. There we go. Now, bend … Yep, that’s right. So now, show them what they should do when it goes time to sit to stand, if they’re going to sit down in a chair.

Like a lunge?

Yeah. Not a lunge, but just like they’re going to sit … Let’s say a chair is right behind you.

Okay.

There’s not, but let’s just say you’re going to sit on that chair.

Make sure there’s not …

Yeah, there we go. So there, it’s a little bit of like, let’s take that same hip hinge of going down to a chair, okay? So with that stick, it’s keeping the whole spine straight. He’s keeping the back in a good neutral position, and he’s able to do some bone building of the hip and spine.

All right.

Now, scoot back just a tiny bit more and face the camera, and let’s go through a little lunge series now. So with the lunge series, the … Yeah, there we go. The stick’s right behind the back still, again, for feedback. If we’re flexing away … There goes Dudley… If we’re flexing away from that stick, it’s pretty apparent and pretty noticeable. So what I recommend to do is about 20 reps of the hip hinge, the way he first showed it. Then do 20 reps of the hip hinge going down to a chair and then do 20 reps of the lunge each of those, and we’ll say two sets of 10. He kind of ooh-ed when I said, “20.”

Ooh.

Let me get this back up. There we go. So with that said, those are just some simple things that you can do at home with a broomstick. You got something laying around like that. Come here, Dudley. If you don’t have anything, again, $3, $5 at Home Depot, at Lowe’s or whatever.

Or find a stick out of the woods.

That’s right, but make sure it’s not too crooked like your spine.

Ooh, shots fired.

So with that said, if you have been told you have osteoporosis, what has your doctor told you to do to help it other than give you Boniva or give you medications? I’d be curious. Put in the comments below what you’ve done or what has been helpful for your osteoporosis situation. I have a lady now. I’ll tell a quick story, and then we’ll wrap it up. I had a lady that I’ve been seeing for PT. She came and saw me the first summer we opened 13 years ago. Since then, she’s been doing our Pilates classes I’d say once a week while she was working.

Then now that she’s retired, probably twice a week, maybe three times a week for the last, say, five years. But what’s happened is that she used to have osteoporosis on Boniva or whatever … Fosamax or whatever. I can’t remember. Then what happened over the course of a few years is she was osteoporotic … osteopenia, excuse me. She went from osteoporosis to osteopenia, which is better than osteoporosis. Osteopenia is that you’re getting close to osteoporosis. Then she stopped. Over the next five years, she was able to get off of all of her medication.

Now, she’s no longer on medications at all for osteoporosis. She has a little osteopenia in one hip. The other hip has cleared up, and the thoracic vertebra has cleared up. So, this is a 13-year process though. I’m not saying this was immediate, and this didn’t … The changes that she saw took many, many, many, many years of commitment to doing weight-bearing exercises and learning what to do and how to do it right.

So with that said, get your weight bearing on, go practice these exercises, and let us know in the comments what you think, and if these are any help to you. All right, guys. You all have a fantastic weekend, and we’ll see you all next week. Bye now.

Call 512-215-4227 to tell us about your Osteoporosis journey! We will listen and hear you… and then offer the best next step for your specific condition…

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What Pilates Mat Exercises Are Safe With Osteoporosis? Osteoporosis Contraindications

Stephen Dunn — Fri, 19 Oct 2018 11:44:41 +0000

Hey, guys. What’s up? It’s Stephen Dunn from CORE Therapy & Pilates. I’m a physical therapist, and today I want to come and tell you a message for someone who would have osteoporosis.

I recently had a client that came in and she says, “Hey, Stephen, I recently found out that I have osteoporosis.” As soon as she told me that, it led me to a whole series of things that we need to address with her. Now, she’s been taking some Pilates classes, and so I wanted to go over the things that are contraindicated in a Pilates mat class if you have osteoporosis.

Now, what is osteoporosis? It’s a demineralization of the bones and the vertebrae between the spine. What happens if you do exercises that brings you into a forward flexed position, it’s contraindicated. So basically all forms of crunches are contraindicated. Things that are going to require you to bend your spine is contraindicated.

One of the main things you want to learn to do is do what we call a hip hinge. We’ll get into that in a different video. The exercises that are contraindicated are the hundred, the roll-up, the roll over, rolling like a ball, single leg stretch. This is a bunch of them, so bear with me. Spine stretch, corkscrew, open-leg rocker, saw, swan, neck pull, scissors, bicycle, spine twist, jackknife, teaser, seal, and boomerang.

Those are the list of exercises in a Pilates mat class that are contraindicated if you have osteoporosis because what it’s going to do is put your spine into too much of a forward flexed position or too much of a rotated position. Basically, it’s too much forward flexion.

Now, let’s talk about the exercises that are safe to do in a Pilates class, in a Pilates mat class: the double leg click, the shoulder bridge … But the shoulder bridge you want to stay mid-height. You don’t want to go all the way up. If you start going all the way up, it can be too much pressure on the upper thoracic spine. Excuse me. Side kicks, hip circles … which you want to maintain neutral spine during your hip circle. Swimming, leg pulls to the front, leg pulls, side kicks kneeling … Again, keep a neutral spine. Side support and pushups, but you want to avoid the down-dog part of the pushup.

So all of the sudden, the safe exercises in a Pilates mat class, it’s a small list. The exercises that are contraindicated is a pretty long list. So I just want to share that with you, and I want to go over one more. The general contraindications would be all roll-ups, all forms of crunches, obliques … That’s what I forgot to say earlier. I knew there was one I missed at the very beginning. Obliques, and you also want to avoid putting pressure on the ribcage here on your stomach.

There’s an exercise in Pilates where it’s the swan. The first part of the swan is very good if you have osteoporosis, but as you’re rocking back and forth on those ribs, that’s not so good. Also, the pigeon pose in yoga, a very, very common pose taught to folks of all ages, that’s something that can be very … Again, it’s contraindicated for the hip.

With that said, I’ll be finishing up with another set of exercises on what to do other than Pilates exercises, but I wanted to start here because I have a client that needs to hear this. So that’s what I got for you today, guys. If this message resonates, like, comment below, and subscribe to our YouTube page. We’ll see you soon. Take care. Peace.

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