Exercise for preventing bone loss and reducing fracture risk

Postmenopausal women and older men at risk of falls and fracture with the aim of improving bone mineral density (BMD) or slowing bone loss, as well as improving muscle mass, strength and function.

Postmenopausal women (or women who experience early menopause) are at increased risk of fracture due to rapid loss of bone associated with loss of oestrogen in addition to bone loss with ageing. Hip, spine and wrist are the most common osteoporotic fracture sites.

Those with severe osteoporosis or who have previously sustained an osteoporotic vertebral fracture should generally avoid dynamic, explosive and high-impact loads, excessive spinal (trunk) flexion (particularly when lifting objects), dynamic abdominal exercises and twisting movements of the spine. Yoga or Pilates postures should be avoided or modified.

Possible adverse events – particularly in high-risk patients with spinal osteoporosis or a history of vertebral fracture – include increased pain, exercise-related injury, falls and spontaneous vertebral fracture with excessive forward flexion activities.

Exercise frequency and intensity should be gradually increased to minimise risk of injury.

Exercise can be carried out in a variety of settings, including the home and local health and fitness centres. It can be self-directed; however, a specific program from a physiotherapist or an accredited exercise physiologist with expertise in osteoporosis may be useful, particularly for patients at high risk.

For adults without osteoporosis or a history of low-trauma fracture, exercise programs should combine a diverse range of weightbearing impact exercises (eg hill-walking, jogging, jumping, skipping, dancing, circuit training) and progressive resistance training involving high load and low repetition. Challenging balance and mobility training should also be incorporated to reduce the risk of falls.

Postmenopausal women and older men should aim for the following. (Also see Consumer resources.)

Resistance training exercise

• At least two 30- to 45-minute progressive resistance training sessions per week.
• Each session should comprise 6–8 exercises with 2–3 sets of 8–10 repetitions at an intensity corresponding to hard to very hard (rating of 14–16 on the Borg scale).
• Exercises should target the major muscles attached to or near the hip and spine (including hip extensors and abductors), knee extensors and flexors, calves and back extensors.

Multidirectional weightbearing activities

• To be performed 4–7 times per week.
• Activities can include short exercise bouts (eg 50–100 jumps, bench step-ups, heel drops divided into 3–5 sets of 10–20 repetitions).
• Moderate- to-high-impact and odd-impact exercise appear to have greater benefit than low-impact, but may need to be introduced after a 4- to 8-week period of resistance training to ensure adequate strength and function.

Challenging balance and mobility exercises

• At least 3–4 times per week.

While low-impact activities such as walking are beneficial to general health, they do not improve bone density. To improve or maintain bone health, exercises need to create a ‘loading’ effect on the bone. However, relatively few loading cycles (repetitions) are needed – short bouts separated by periods of rest are more effective than the same number of loads performed all at once.

Risk factors that limit the benefits of exercise include smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, vitamin D deficiency and insufficient dietary calcium or protein.

The benefits of exercise on bone density are lost over time if exercise is not maintained, so adherence strategies are important.

High-impact exercise may be a problem for women with continence issues, and so pelvic floor exercise training is important.

Osteoporosis Australia – Prevention: Exercise This includes an exercise fact sheet and information about strategies to avoid falls.

Example of a structured exercise program

Table 1.

Structured exercise program

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The RACGP gratefully acknowledge the contribution of Professor Robin Daly, Chair or Exercise and Ageing at the Institute of Physical Activity and Nutrition, Deakin University, in the development of this intervention.