Having strong healthy bones that enable us to move unburdened is something that most people in their 30s take for granted. But not many know that bone density peaks in early adulthood and then begins to naturally decline after the age of 30.
While the loss of bone mass is an expected part of aging, preventing the speed of decline has significant consequences for longevity.
First, a few definitions. Bone loss is the gradual reduction in bone density that happens when the body breaks down old bone faster than it can produce new bone.
Osteopenia is the medical condition defined as lower than normal bone mineral density (BMD). Osteopenia usually has no symptoms so most people don’t know they have it unless they have a test or a fracture occurs. And Osteoporosis is the more severe medical condition where a more significant loss of bone density and mass has occurred.
Bone health is measured as bone mineral density (BMD) and is defined as follows:
While osteoporosis can affect young people, it mainly impacts older men and postmenopausal women in particular as they become more fragile with lower estrogen levels that reduce bone protection.
A staggering 54% of postmenopausal women in the U.S. have osteopenia. 33% of all women and 20% of men over the age of 50 will suffer a fracture caused by osteoporosis. Women will on average spend more days hospitalized due to osteoporosis than from breast cancer and heart disease combined.
Within one year of breaking a hip, one in four people will die. Half of those who survive will never walk independently again, and many will require help with their everyday activities.
The incidence rate is also expected to increase significantly due to an aging population. Between 2010 and 2030, the US population over 65 years of age is expected to increase from 13% to over 20%.
This is why it’s incredibly important to learn how to build stronger bones, and maintain those habits for life. In order to prevent bone loss, and build new bones, the body needs to be supplied with mechanical strain that exceeds the level of everyday activity.
Like most other things in nature, if things are never stressed, they grow weaker with time. And bones are no different, they need to be challenged in order to maintain or grow their BMD. This is why astronauts lose bone in space, there is no load at all.
While walking is a gentle and healthy way to stay active, it does not provide sufficient strain to build stronger bones. In order for the body to build bone, it needs safe and progressive bouts of jumping, hopping or resistance training.
Below are the estimated loads that different activities put on our skeleton:
To build bone density, we need exercises that create 3x more force than our body weight. As we can see above, the best way of achieving this is by incorporating jumps and resistance training in our workouts.
The optimal workout strategy for stimulating and maintaining bone density appears to be a combination of 2-3 times a week of jumping (box jumps etc) and 2-3 sessions of resistance training per week.
If you have little to no experience working out, make sure to begin with more gentle body weight exercises like squats, step-ups and resistance band. Remaining injury free is an equally important goal.
And while exercise is the most important component to build stronger bones, the body also needs vitamins such as Vitamin D, Vitamin K2 and Calcium to assist in the process.
Vitamin D and Vitamin K2 help with the absorption of Calcium by directing it into the bones and away from arteries.
And while Vitamin D and K2 can easily be supplemented, it’s best to get enough Calcium by eating dairy products, leafy greens and beans and nuts.
