03/11/2025
🦴 Your Bones Need Stress: Not Rest
Osteoporosis makes bones weaker, but the fix isn’t “gentle” exercise, it’s loading.
Bone adapts to stress just like muscle. Without load, it weakens. With the right load, it strengthens (Wolff’s Law; NIH, 2024).
💪 How it works:
Mechanical strain from resistance or impact exercise tells bone-building cells to get to work (Turner, 1998; Kohrt et al., 2004).
🏋️♀️ What works best:
Lift heavy (2–3x/week) with movements that challenge posture and big muscles, squats, deadlifts, presses (Watson et al., 2018).
⚡ Add impact:
Short, sharp forces like hops or stair climbs build bone faster than slow movement (Guadalupe-Grau et al., 2009; Zhao et al., 2015).
✅ Start smart:
Progress gradually, get guidance, and remember, bones need stress, not just movement (Giangregorio et al., 2014).