Strong bones are crucial to good health, but like many systems in the body, they start to weaken with age.
This is especially true for women, as menopause can cause loss of bone density at a rate of 1-2% a year and in some people as high as 3-5% a year, research has found.
Protecting your bone density — or how porous your bones are — decreases the risk of osteoporosis, a condition where the bones are thin, weak and more likely to fracture. About half of women over age 50 will break a bone due to osteoporosis, according to the Bone Health and Osteoporosis Foundation.
Having dense bones in mid-to-late life can help you stay active and make you less likely to injure yourself, Dr. Jocelyn Wittstein, an orthopedic surgeon and author of “The Complete Bone and Joint Health Plan,” tells TODAY.com.
To a certain extent, some bone loss over the decades is inevitable, but luckily there are plenty of steps you can take to minimize the effects of aging on your skeletal system. And the earlier you start the better — but it’s never too late, Wittstein stresses.
Protecting Bone and Joint Health as You Age
Both diet and exercise are important building blocks for strong bones.
The two most important nutrients for bone health are calcium, which helps build the bones, and vitamin D, which helps the gut absorb the calcium, Dr. Ian Smith, physician and author of “Eat Your Age,” previously told TODAY.com. Vitamin D deficiency is one of the most common nutrient deficiencies in the U.S.
Foods that promote bone health include dairy products, fortified plant milks, salmon, sardines and tofu, Smith said.
Exercises to Protect Bone and Joint Health
The other important component of healthy bones is exercise. For the best results, you should try to get a few different types in, Wittstein says. These include:
- Weight-bearing cardio
- Strength training
- Impact training
- Balance
“Whenever we talk about bone health, there’s always the component of bone density to make your bones stronger, but then there’s also the component of how do we not fall, which is important over time,” Wittstein explains.
If you’re not currently that active, it may seem intimidating to try to do all these things right away, but luckily research shows that even small interventions can have a big impact.
Cardio
For fitness beginners, regardless of age, walking is one the most accessible ways to promote bone density, according to Wittstein.
“Anything that we do that is weight-bearing is going to at least have some positive effect in terms of slowing the rate that we lose bone,” she says. “We know from studies that women who walk more lose bone density at a slower rate.”
One 2002 study found that walking four hours a week (compared to less than one hour) led to 41% lower risk of hip fracture, likely due to greater bone density, mobility and balance, Wittstein says.
“I think people diminish walking as a tool for bone health compared to other more intense activities, but it does have significant benefits still,” she adds.
You can take multiple short walks throughout the day or go for one long walk. Wittstein also recommends interval training, such as a technique called Japanese walking.
Also important for beginners is embracing a phenomenon called VILPA. It stands for “vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity,” such as taking the stairs or carrying groceries to the car.
“I like to think of using exercise to protect our brain, our bones and our heart,” Wittstein says. “Some of these smaller, shorter bouts of exercise that are built into daily life for people who are not exercisers can definitely have significant impacts.”
Strength Training
You may have seen claims that you need to “lift heavy” to boost health, and while more weight can have benefits if you’re able to handle it, Wittstein wants everyone to know that even moderate intensity strength training can have a positive impact.
“Ideally, the perfect set of exercises for improving bone density are those that load the spine and the hips, which are common areas of fracture as we age with loss of bone density,” she explains. “Our bones need to feel the load from the top down.”
Grip strength is also important because it’s been linked to mortality risk, she adds.
Here are some exercises she recommends because they put weight on the spine, hips and/or wrists:
- Deadlift
- Back squat (a squat with a barbell in the upper back)
- Squat with a hex bar, kettle bell, or dumbbells
- Standing overhead press
- Farmer’s carry
- Pushups
- Planks
- Bear walks
- Shoulder taps
Impact Training
Impact training refers to exercises that cause the body to strike the ground or an object with force, like jumping or boxing.
It works because the impact (such as when you land on the ground or hit the punching bag) creates vibrations in the bone that send the message to form more bone, Wittstein explains.
You may not be able to do jumping exercises right away and that’s OK, she says. To reduce injury risk for beginners, she recommends (in order of difficulty):
- Walking
- Step down (standing on an elevated platform on one leg, slowly lower the other leg onto the ground)
- Heel drops (standing on the ground, rise up on to the balls of your feet and then drop your heels down)
- Stomping (while standing, intentionally strike the floor with your feet)
Then, if you are able to sustain more intense impact, you can try drop jumps, Wittsein says.
Balance
Balance is important fitness element to work on as you age on because it helps prevent falls, Wittstein says.
In fact, research has linked whether middle-aged or older people can stand on one leg for 10 seconds unassisted to their lifespan and future mobility.
Wittstein has some suggestions to improve your balance as well:
- Assess your ability to balance on one leg unassisted for 10 seconds. Try it on both sides.
- If you struggle, practice while using support, such as a hand on the wall or countertop. Slowly reduce how much you rely on it.
- Practice regularly. Try standing on one leg while brushing your teeth.
- Once you’re able to easily stand on one leg for 10 seconds, increase the difficulty by closing your eyes or standing on a soft surface.
- For even more of a challenge, you can do strength training exercises on one leg, such as Russian deadlifts, bicep curls and overhead presses.
As with any form of exercise, the more regularly you do it at an increasingly challenging level, the more benefits you’ll see. But Wittstein wants you to know that no matter your starting point or age, you can find a way to start building your bone health.
“My mantra with my patients is always something is better than nothing, and you have to start somewhere,” she says.