Question on strenghtening spine

[zola]

Cathe or educated crowd

I am 51 years old, and have been working out with Cathe since 1993. I love all her workouts, have all her DVD's and felt I was in great shape. Well, last week I had a Dexa scan (bone scan), and just found out I have osteoporis in my spine. My question, how do you strenghten your spine? How do you get more density? Right now, I weight train, and I am able to keep up with the same amount of weight as Cathe, so I am really perplexed on my scan results. I also take plenty of calcium and Vit D. I am so bummed!!!!!

Melissa

 

[Aquajock]

Hi, Melissa! You probably have more control over strengthening the MUSCLES that directly support the spine than you do preventing lose of bone density of the spine. I'd suggest keeping up with a total body heavy lifting program, incorporating plenty of back work and overall core work, for muscle conditioning. Also continue to get your calcium and Vitamin D. However, to prevent or minimize bone density loss you may need to have some sort of prescription medication for the osteoporosis.

HTH -

A-Jock

 

[Debra L]

Pilates has several weight bearing spinal exercises such as "rolling like a ball." As Aquajock stated, traditional weight training tends to focus on back muscles, rather than the spine itself. I do both.

Debra

 

[kathryn]

Some programs to PREVENT osteoporosis use jump training (plyometrics). The stress to the spine causes it to get stronger. You start with small jumps (the "high in the sky" Cathe-style plyo jumps aren't necessary), a few a day, then increase reps and eventually add a weight vest.

BUT it is usually not recommended once you actually have osteoporosis.

About the only way to increase bone density post-menopause is to take a prescription drug that helps the body create bone density.

As for why you have osteoporosis: the road could have started in your bone-growing years if you had a bad diet. Also, calcium and vitamin D are important for bone strength, but many other minerals, like boron especially (found in dark leafy greens and flax), and vitamin K (also found in dark leafy greens) are important as well.

 

[zola]

Thanks everyone for your responses. I have an appointment with the MD for next week to discuss options. I am sure that means medications. I am thankful that I found Cathe, though, or maybe my spine could have been much worse. I have never done Pilates so maybe I can give it a try. Does anyone know of any good Pilates DVD's? I am a strictly a Cathe workout kind of girl.

Melissa