As a woman, you have a higher risk of breaking a bone and stress fractures than men, especially as you age. 50% of all women will break a bone over the age of 50 due to Osteoporosis, not a great stat is it?

But don’t be scared you can start working on improving this straight away, bones are in a constant state of rebuilding when you are a child that process is quicker and as you age it declines. Estrogen plays an important role in bone remodelling so it helps to keep the decline in check. Premenopausal women lose bone slowly around 1 per cent a year whereas after the menopause it can increase up to 3 per cent a year.

Ok so that’s the bad news, what’s the good news? The more active you are the more strain you put on your bones, the cells within sense this and respond by making bones denser and stronger. The best activities are those that are weight bearing (forcing you to work against gravity) so strength training is ideal.

If you have already been diagnosed with osteoporosis then you may need to select your activities carefully, you should avoid high impact activities such as plyometrics and lots of bending and twisting. What you should do is strength train 2- 3 days a week. Many studies have shown that postmenopausal women with low or even very low bone densities see significant density gains (around a 1 percent improvement per year against a 3 percent reversal) particularly in their spine and hips when they regularly strength train.

You can also make some lifestyle changes to help such as if you are a smoker, this has been linked to low bone density, heavy drinking also is bad for your bones and cola can weaken bones by altering your bodies balance of calcium and phosphorus.

In summary:

Women suffer much higher from osteoporosis then men

Older women have a much higher risk

Strength train 2-3 times a week

Modify diet/lifestyle to help.

At Body planners we have many women over 5o strength training 2- 3 times  week and we can see that it has transformed their lives, they are stronger, fitter and continue to be more active in their daily lives. Our eldest clients are in their 70’s and we can really see the difference that regular lifting is making to their posture and skeleton.

Strength training can seem daunting at first and you might think it is not for women but more suited to the muscle bound guys in the commercial gym. We specialise in introducing women to strength training, in a supportive and welcoming private fitness studio environment. We promise that you will not get bulky, or muscle bound but become lean, toned and have a healthy bone structure that will continue to serve you well for the rest of your life.

If you would lie to learn more about our services or book a free consultation please follow the links on our website.

Rachel