Bone Building Exercise

When you're trying to drop pounds without exercising, you could be losing important bone, according to a recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine. As your body gets lighter, it may not put enough stress on your skeleton to produce bone-building activity. Exercise, especially strength training, helps prevent bone loss and may even increase bone density by regularly stressing your bones. Studies show that exercises requiring muscles to pull on bones cause the bones to retain and possibly gain density.

Initial or Beginner Exercises

• Walking
• Square Dancing
• Yoga
• Weight Lifting
• Low Impact Aerobics
• Dance
• Tai Chi
• Gardening
• Stair Climbing
• Elastic Band Exercises
• House Cleaning Activities
• Carrying Groceries
• Bowling
• Golf, Pulling Clubs
• Golf, Carrying Clubs
• Baseball/Softball

Moderate

• Walking Uphill
• Race Walking
• Jogging
• Weight Lifting
• Step Aerobics
• Dance
• Racquetball
• Downhill Skiing
• Cross Country Skiing
• Soccer
• Basketball
• Volleyball
• Hiking
• Tennis

Advanced

• Walking with Weighted Vest
• Walking wth Backpack
• Race Walking
• Jogging
• Running
• Soccer
• Weight Lifting
• High Impact Aerobics
• Stair Climbing w/Weighted Vest
• Basketball
• Hiking
• Backpacking
• Jumping Rope
• Gymnastics

Key:

• Initial /Beginner: Start one or more of these activities on a regular basis. Get up and get moving!:
• Moderate: Increase your load, intensity and time of physical activity. Do more, more often
• With minor back pain, do not stay in bed for more than a day or two. Get on your feet and move. Inactivity leads to loss of muscle strength.
• Advanced: Challenge yourself to keep increasing your load, intensity and time of physical activities. Put effort into Building Bone!