[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/exercise\/how-much-exercise-is-enough-for-bone-health\/#Article","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/exercise\/how-much-exercise-is-enough-for-bone-health\/","headline":"How much exercise is \u201cenough\u201d for bone health?","name":"How much exercise is \u201cenough\u201d for bone health?","description":"Print PDF eBook Facebook Twitter Gmail LinkedIn Pinterest When I talk to some of my clients about exercise, I know a lot of them aren\u2019t enthusiastic, thinking I\u2019m going to tell them they need to spend hours lifting heavy weights and sweating in a gym. After all, everyone knows it\u2019s weight-bearing exercise \u2014 and lots […]","datePublished":"2017-10-02","dateModified":"2021-12-18","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/author\/brownbetterbonesgmail-com\/#Person","name":"Dr. Susan E. Brown, PhD","url":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/author\/brownbetterbonesgmail-com\/","identifier":72,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8e08d87bd45250c6616e1752933a6576aba077f335d97ee337a0cde5e435cbd3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8e08d87bd45250c6616e1752933a6576aba077f335d97ee337a0cde5e435cbd3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Center for Better Bones","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Better-Bones-AMP.png","url":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Better-Bones-AMP.png","width":150,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/exercise-for-bone-health-BB-Blog-3-20.jpg","url":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/exercise-for-bone-health-BB-Blog-3-20.jpg","height":1109,"width":2120},"url":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/exercise\/how-much-exercise-is-enough-for-bone-health\/","video":{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"VideoObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0JSQY-MSDpQ#VideoObject","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0JSQY-MSDpQ","name":"How much exercise is enough for bone health?","description":"Don't want to spend hours in the gym, but still want to improve your bone health? This is the video for you! Research shows that you may need less exercise than you think!\n\n\u2192 Want to learn everything you need to manage & reverse your osteoporosis\/osteopenia naturally in one inspiring weekend with Dr. Brown? Join our bone health retreat & workshop! Learn more here: https:\/\/shop.betterbones.com\/pages\/love-your-bones-love-your-life-virtual-retreat\n\n\u2192 If you are interested in working with Dr. Brown to develop a personalized natural bone health program, read more about consultations here: https:\/\/www.betterbones.com\/consultations\/help-osteoporosis-osteopenia-fracture-healing-bone-health-concerns\/\n\n\u2192 Would you like your questions answered by Dr. Brown?  Comment below and she may address them in a future video!\n\nCheck out our website! \u2192 http:\/\/ www.betterbones.com\n\nWant to connect with Better Bones on social media?\nLike on Facebook \u2192 http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/betterbonesbetterbody\n\u200bFollow on Twitter \u2192 http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/drsusanbrown\n\u200bFollow our Instagram \u2192 http:\/\/www.instagram.com\/betterbonesbetterbody\n\u200bCheck out our Pinterest \u2192 http:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/betterbonesbetterbody\n\n#osteoporosis #osteopenia #bonemass #bonehealth #weightandbonemass #womenshealth #drsusanbrown #betterbonesbetterbody #preventosteoporosis\nExercise for bone health: patreon.com\/betterbones","thumbnailUrl":["https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/0JSQY-MSDpQ\/default.jpg","https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/0JSQY-MSDpQ\/mqdefault.jpg","https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/0JSQY-MSDpQ\/hqdefault.jpg"],"uploadDate":"2017-10-20T17:36:15+00:00","duration":"PT1M41S","embedUrl":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0JSQY-MSDpQ","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCm6Zry9uGdrZpm05sQLIxMw#Organization","url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCm6Zry9uGdrZpm05sQLIxMw","name":"Dr. Susan E. Brown","description":"Dr. Susan E. Brown, PhD, is a medical anthropologist, a New York State Certified Nutritionist, and the author of Better Bones, Better Body -- the first comprehensive look at natural bone health. Dr. Brown specializes in osteoporosis, osteopenia, bone health regeneration, and auto-immune disease. She is also famous for her natural approach to bone health; check out her Better Bones programs and products.","logo":{"url":"https:\/\/yt3.ggpht.com\/ytc\/AIdro_m0l08uY9k8RO1FbN8-VsYIOa8fiq9BtocNNM_k3xw7a7s=s800-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj","width":800,"height":800,"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0JSQY-MSDpQ#VideoObject_publisher_logo_ImageObject"}},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0JSQY-MSDpQ#VideoObject_potentialAction","target":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0JSQY-MSDpQ&t={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"},"interactionStatistic":[[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0JSQY-MSDpQ#VideoObject_interactionStatistic_WatchAction","interactionType":{"@type":"WatchAction"},"userInteractionCount":2486}],{"@type":"InteractionCounter","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0JSQY-MSDpQ#VideoObject_interactionStatistic_LikeAction","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":20}]},"about":["Exercise"],"wordCount":538,"keywords":["exercise","weight vest","weight bearing exercise"],"articleBody":" Print PDF eBook\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFacebook\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTwitter\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGmail\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLinkedIn\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPinterest\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWhen I talk to some of my clients about exercise, I know a lot of them aren\u2019t enthusiastic, thinking I\u2019m going to tell them they need to spend hours lifting heavy weights and sweating in a gym. After all, everyone knows it\u2019s weight-bearing exercise \u2014 and lots of it \u2014 that builds bone and lowers the risk of fractures, right?Surprise! Not necessarily. Two new studies show that even small amounts of low-impact exercise have a positive effect on fracture risk.Table of ContentsToggle     3 Minutes ReadTwenty minutes of walking does the trickLight loads do more than you thinkA little bit goes a long wayTwenty minutes of walking does the trickThe first study (Stattin et al. 2017) followed more than 65,000 Swedish men and women for 17 years and found that participants who walked or bicycled daily for even short periods of time had a lower fracture rate compared with those who did not. Regardless of sex or age, even relatively sedentary people could lower their fracture risk by exercising just a little bit every day. As long as they got at least an hour of exercise per week, these otherwise inactive people had a 13% lower rate of hip fractures and a 6% lower rate of any fracture compared to people who did none at all.It\u2019s worth emphasizing that the findings held true whether you looked at any fracture (including common, relatively mild fractures like vertebral or wrist fractures) or the more serious and life-changing hip fractures that everyone fears.Of course, the more exercise they got, the better the results: those with 20 minutes of walking or cycling every day, which translates to about 2 hours per week \u2014 had a 23% lower rate of hip fracture and a 13% lower rate of any fracture. That\u2019s a pretty good return for not a lot of effort \u2014 just imagine what you get when you do even more!Light loads do more than you thinkThe second study (Hamaguchi et al. 2017) had a small group of 7 postmenopausal women undergo six weeks of training wearing a weighted vest with 380-760 g (roughly from 1.75 pounds) of added weight. With just two workout sessions per week, the participants saw improvements in pelvis BMD (1.6%) and knee extensor strength (15.5%) \u2014 which is helpful in maintaining balance and preventing falls. Workouts consisted of squats, front lunges, side lunges, calf raises and toe raises (eight sets of three repetitions with a 15-second rest between each set).A little bit goes a long wayI know that it can be hard to start exercising if you\u2019re not accustomed to it, and especially if you\u2019re recovering from a muscle strain or a fracture, the get-up-and-go impulse just isn\u2019t there. But you don\u2019t have to do a lot to get benefit from it! Both of these studies show that a little goes a long way.\u00a0  ReferencesHamaguchi, K.,\u00a0 et al. 2017. The effects of low-repetition and light-load power training on bone mineral density in postmenopausal women with sarcopenia: A pilot study. BMC Geriatrics 17:102.Stattin, K., et al. 2017. Leisure-time physical activity and risk of fracture: A cohort study of 66,940 men and women. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research 32(8):1599-1606."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Exercise","item":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/exercise\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How much exercise is \u201cenough\u201d for bone health?","item":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/exercise\/how-much-exercise-is-enough-for-bone-health\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]