Weight-bearing Exercise with a Weight Vest for Osteopenia
Starting with fire-fighters, then moving to athletes, weight
vest training has become very popular. It has been well
proven over the last twenty years that weight-training adds
strength to the muscles and density to the bones.
Miriam E. Nelson, Ph.D., who wrote, "Strong Women Stay
Young," an excellent book, found that there were other
benefits to weight training as well. Women who completed her
studies restored bone, improved balance, controlled weight,
toned their bodies, improved flexibility and endurance. They
also felt better about themselves than they had in years.
The program recommended in Dr. Nelson's book required leg
and arm weights and could be done at home. The negative is
that the program requires effort and dedication, and also
correct form. Weight training done incorrectly can have
harmful consequences.
Weight Vest Studies for Osteoporosis and Osteopenia
In 2000, Janet Shaw did a long-term study at Oregon State
University. She found that postmenopausal women who
participate in a long-term fitness regimen that includes
jumping and "resistance" exercises using weighted vests can
prevent significant bone loss in the hip.
Dr Christine Snow, who was the Director of the Bone Research
Laboratory at Oregon State University, and Shaw collaborated
to start a grassroots exercise program for Osteoporosis Risk
Reduction and Osteopenia treatment. The program was spread
all over Oregon as an adult education course.
"These kinds of results from an exercise routine haven't
been achieved before and they contradict what the medical
community has been saying for years". Dr. Snow said. "One
important aspect of the study is its longevity. When we
checked these women after nine months, the results for bone
mass weren't significant. After five years, though, the
improvement was significant," she added. "Exercise was as
good or better than either estrogen or Fosamax for
preventing bone loss."
Another study was written up in the Biological Research for
Nursing newsletter in 2003. Eighteen women over 60 were
randomly assigned to an exercise group wearing a weight vest
and doing strength training for one hour three times a week,
or to a control group that did nothing. The weight vest
group had significant changes in bone density and in weight
loss in 32 weeks.
How to
Use a Weight Vest
By wearing a weight vest during your walking time or your
most active time of the day you are getting the benefits of
weight training without most of the effort. The weights
should be as high on the body as possible to give the most
benefit to the bones. Weights on the ankles and wrists do
nothing to help your core bones and can harm the fragile
bones in those areas.
Most weight vests on the market were designed for male
athletes and are not comfortable for women. They are hard to
get into it and there are weights across the chest. But now
there is a vest that has been designed specifically for
post-menopausal women for osteopenia treatment and
osteoporosis prevention. You can find out more about it at
http://weightvest4osteoporosis.com
You start out with only 4 lbs of weight and work up
gradually to a maximum of 10% of your body weight. This vest
is good for the thin women who are typically most at risk of
osteoporosis but it is also good for overweight women to
accelerate weight loss and change fat into muscle.
There is one group of women who get especially annoyed at
the diagnosis of osteopenia and that is the thin, athletic
group who exercise a little obsessively. It actually robs
your bones of protein when you exercise to excess. Cutting
back on the time of exercise and using a vest will add bone
density to this group of women also.
There is really no negative to this kind of weight-bearing
exercise. You wear the weight vest around the house for an
hour every day until you get stronger. By then you will feel
more frisky and want to take a walk or do some rebounding on
a mini-trampoline. Add weights according to your own
tolerance and take a few days off every month to give your
body a rest.
In the interest of open disclosure, I want you to know that
I created this weight vest to heal my own osteoporosis.
After one year I am improved into the osteopenia zone. I
decided to bring this vest to the market so that other women
could be helped by it.
About the Author
Pamela Free is a health researcher who loves to discover and design health solutions. You can find her solutions for osteopenia and osteoporosis at http://weightvest4osteoporosis.com
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