On Saturday I went to watch a pole dancing showcase put on by Fearless Pole in South London (Instagram>>), which is always good fun to see. While many people used to associate pole dancing with seedy clubs, that is sort of old news. For twenty years it has been booming as an official sport and was close to making it to the Olympics. Think of it as rhythmic gymnastics on a pole. It is one of my fave forms of resistance training as it encourages women to get strong. This is important because the topic of bone density is critical for women especially.
I’ve had a fair few clients come to me this last year with the specific goal of improving their bone strength. This seems to have been sparked by various interviews with Doctors on the Zoe Health App podcast. These delves into the link between osteoporosis, menopause, and the importance of strength training as we age. The message was fairly simple, bone health matters more than you think and you’re not doing enough about it.
Bone density is a measure of how strong your bones are. It’s usually assessed using a DEXA scan. As a rule, for people who do not train, bone density peaks around age 30 and then begins to decline gradually. In some people, particularly post-menopausal women, this decline can become severe, leading to conditions like osteopenia or osteoporosis. In these states, bones become so weak that small falls or knocks can cause breaks and fractures. If you have no access to a bone density test then a general proxy would be to look at your muscle, strength and fitness.
Low bone density is a big issue now because we live such sedentary lives. It is more common in women, partly because of hormonal changes around menopause, and partly due to women generally being lighter in bodyweight than men. This means their bones are under less load in everyday life, which reduces the stimulus to keep bone strong. Add to that lower strength training rates, restrictive diets, a few decades of low-fat messaging and you have the issues we face today. Here are some key things to know:
The main stimulus for bone growth is load – This is the part I think gets overlooked. People drift into food talk or supplements, when the thing that matters most is load going through bones, tendons and muscles. The same confusion happens with muscle growth, people seem to think protein just magically builds muscle and forget any growth happens only in response to consistent, progressive strength training. For bone health, the same applies.
You must give the body a reason to increase bone density. At very low bone density levels, even light resistance bands or gentle yoga may create enough stimulus. As you get stronger, your bones need more stress to adapt. The best stimulus of all is impact work such as jumping, bounding, or plyometric movements. The key to this is being injury free so your joints can tolerate them.
Other Bone Density Factors – Secondary factors refer to things like calcium intake, vitamin D, overall nutrition and hormonal balance which all play supporting roles. Not undereating is another big one. If your body doesn’t have enough total energy, it simply won’t prioritise building or maintaining your bones. Your aim should be to fulfil your nutrient needs consistently over time and maximise your metabolic rate.
The Bone Density Hierarchy – Like many things with health, it is not about good or bad, but which is better. Sitting and being sedentary is by far the worst thing you can do. Any exercise after that is great, where non weight bearing exercise would be of a lower stimulus, e.g. Swimming and cycling, which are great for cardio, but not optimal for bones.
Walking or slow jogging is much better, especially with varied terrain or hill work. Resistance training is essential, but there’s a difference between lifting 2kg dumbbells in a circuit class and doing advanced lifting.
The top of the tree for bone density is jumping, plyometrics, fast running and lifting heavy weights. You need to use load bearing movements like squats, lunges, or pressing your bodyweight.
The key to all of the above options is consistent application over time, where you apply progressive overload, e.g. you make it a bit harder or different as you get stronger.
What Does This Mean For You?
You need to be doing strength training and/or load-bearing activities and you need to start now. Even if your bone scan is fine, prevention is always better than cure. If you’ve already been told your density is borderline, then the time to act was yesterday.
The good news is that change is possible at any age. Bone density is slow to change but can adapt to repetitive stress. If you’ve had a slow decline for 20 years, it won’t fully reverse in 6 weeks, but you can build it back up, and you can certainly stop further losses. The impact over time can be huge, but the earlier you start, the better.
There are many ways to get this done, the most obvious is weight training in a gym. I feel the predominantly male environment of the gym has contributed to some degree with the imbalance in gender stats on bone density. While gyms may now be much more women friendly than previous years I can understand why you probably hate them.
The good news is there are so many ways around it, I have been training people in parks for over a decade and online at home for five years. Your body weight, a few exercise bands and the power of gravity is enough to stimulate bone, tendon and muscle growth.
This means you can be healthy without needing to become a bodybuilder. But it does mean taking your bones seriously. you must get some load and weight put through them regularly. If you’re stuck, not sure where to begin, or need a plan that fits your current ability, I can help in person here in Battersea or online anywhere. I look to create personalised programmes that include bone health as part of the bigger picture. Send me a message if you want to talk about it.
Photo – Scenes from the pole showcase I went to, a great form of strength work as mostly women dominated and requires high level strength and even involves jumps. To see more go to the Fearless Pole Website or their Instagram page here>>
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