Beat Osteoporosis with Exercise: A Low-Impact Program for Building Strength, Increasing Bone Density and Improving Posture

By Karl Knopf

Prevent bone loss and decrease the risk of injury with this full-illustrated workout guide from the bestselling health and fitness author.

As you get older, osteoporosis is a big concern. Luckily, there are things you can do to keep it from adversely affecting your life. Featuring more than 100 step-by-step exercises divided into detailed fitness plans, Beat Osteoporosis with Exercise guarantees that, regardless of your current fitness level, you can radically improve all aspects of your health, including:

• Preventing bone loss
• Increasing mobility
• Avoiding fractures
• Building strength
• Lowering risk of injury
• Improving balance
• Fixing posture

As these exercises become a regular habit, you’ll have an improved and sustainable quality of life while engaging in your favorite physical activities, such as golf, hiking, fishing, tennis or even salsa dancing. This book’s safe, age-appropriate, customizable approach to exercise offers stability to your bones while lowering risk of injury.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Apr 26, 2016
• ISBN: 9781612435749

Karl Knopf

Dr. Karl Knopf has been involved in the health and fitness of older adults and the disabled for more than forty years. During this time he has worked in almost every aspect of the industry, from personal training and therapy to consultation. While at Foothill College, Karl was the coordinator of the Adaptive Fitness Technician Program and Lifelong Learning Institute. He taught disabled students and undergraduates about corrective exercise. In addition to teaching, Karl developed the “Fitness Educators of Older Adults Association” to guide trainers of older adults. Currently Karl is a director at the International Sports Science Association and is on the advisory board of PBS’s Sit and Be Fit show. In his spare time he has spoken at conferences, authored many articles, and written numerous books on topics ranging from water workouts to fitness therapy. He was a frequent guest on both radio and print media on issues pertaining to senior fitness and the disabled.

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Text copyright © 2016 Karl Knopf. Photographs copyright © 2016 Rapt Productions except as noted below. Design and concept copyright © 2016 Ulysses Press and its licensors. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized duplication in whole or in part or dissemination of this edition by any means (including but not limited to photocopying, electronic devices, digital versions, and the Internet) will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Published in the United States by:

Ulysses Press

P.O. Box 3440

Berkeley, CA 94703

www.ulyssespress.com

ISBN: 978-1-61243-574-9

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015952113

10987654321

Acquisitions editor: Kelly Reed

Managing editor: Claire Chun

Editors: Lily Chou, Lauren Harrison

Proofreader: N.E. Jaster

Indexer: Sayre Van Young

Front cover/interior design and layout: what!design @ whatweb.com

Cover photographs: front © kurhan/shutterstock.com; back © Rapt Productions

Interior photographs: © Rapt Productions except pages 67, 74, and 77 (wall squat) © Robert Holmes

Models: James Groleau, Toni Silver, Kym Sterner

Please note: This book has been written and published strictly for informational purposes, and in no way should be used as a substitute for consultation with health care professionals. You should not consider educational material herein to be the practice of medicine or to replace consultation with a physician or other medical practitioner. The author and publisher are providing you with information in this work so that you can have the knowledge and can choose, at your own risk, to act on that knowledge. The author and publisher also urge all readers to be aware of their health status and to consult health care professionals before beginning any health program.

This book is independently authored and published. No sponsorship or endorsement of this book by, and no affiliation with any trademarked brands or products mentioned or pictured, is claimed or suggested. All trademarks that appear in this book belong to their respective owners and are used here for informational purposes only. The author and publisher encourage readers to patronize the quality brands and other products mentioned and pictured in this book.

Table of Contents

Part 1: Overview

Chapter 1

What Is Osteoporosis?

Chapter 2

Determining Your Risk

Chapter 3

Preventing Osteoporosis

Chapter 4

Frequently Asked Questions

Chapter 5

Before You Begin

Part 2: The Programs

Chapter 6

Using This Book

Part 3: Exercises

STRENGTH SERIES

Dual-Arm Pull-Down

Inverted Pull-Up

Reverse Flye

Frontal Raise

Lateral Raise

Shoulder Press

Archery Pull

Seated Row

Biceps Curl

Arm & Leg Curl

Half-Squat with Lateral Arm Raise

Push-Up

Leg Squeeze & Spread

Quad Setting

Seated Leg Press

Heel Raise

One-Leg Heel Raise

Forward Lunge with Band

Side Step with Band

Side Lunge with Weights

Standing Leg Raise

Side-Lying Leg Raise

Reverse Side-Lying Leg Raise

Squat

Sumo Squat

Single-Bell Squat

Double-Bell Squat

Single-Leg Squat

Side-Step Squat

CORE SERIES

Foundational Floor Position

Back Flattener

Leg Extension

Arm Swing

Arm/Leg Combination

Foot Press

Curl-Up

Marching

Pelvic Lift

Pelvic Lift with Arm Swing

Pelvic Lift with Leg Extension

Pelvic Lift with Arm Swing & Leg Extension

Hands & Knees—Foundational Position

Hands & Knees Arm Raise

Hands & Knees Leg Raise

Hands & Knees Combination

Hands & Knees Advanced Combination

Foundational Foam Roller Position: Seated Orientation

Foundational Foam Roller Position: Supine Orientation

Supine Roller Stabilization—Arms

Supine Roller Stabilization—Legs

Supine Marching

Foam Roller Pelvic Lift

Plank to Pike

Basic Ball Sit

Ball Sit with Leg Extension

Ball Sit with Leg & Arm Extension

Supine Base Position on Ball

Supine Leg Lift on Ball

Prone Ball Arm Raise

Prone Ball Leg Raise

Superwoman

I, Y & T

Bench Press on Ball

HIGH-INTENSITY SERIES

Bench Step-Up

Bench Side-Step

Forward Jump & Hold

Double-Leg Hop

Lateral Jump & Hold

One-Leg Hop & Hold

Jumping Rope

Stair Jump

Circle Jump

Military Press & Catch

Medicine Ball Throw

Push-Up Clap

BALANCE SERIES

Stork Stand

Bike Ride

Heel-Toe Stand

Weight Shift on Soft Surface

Foam Pad Push

FLEXIBILITY SERIES

Head Tilt

Tennis Watcher

Turtle

Skyscraper

Windmill

Double Wood Chop

Apple Picker

Soup Can Pour

Rotator Cuff Stretch

Elbow Touch

Shoulder Box

Shoulder Roll

Over the Top

Choker

Picture Frame

Pec Stretch

Hands behind Back

The Zipper

Mad Cat

Long Body Stretch

Sit & Reach

Straight-Leg Stretch

Standing Hip Flexor

Kneeling Hip Flexor

Rear Calf Stretch

Drop-Off Stretch

Gas Pedal

Ankle Roller

Ankle Circle

Squeezer

Finger Spreader

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Part 1:

Overview

Chapter 1

What Is Osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis is Latin for porous bone. It’s a silent condition with no outward symptoms, and that causes the bones to become weak, brittle, and easily breakable. In people with osteoporosis, bones can break from a minor fall, or even a simple cough can fracture a rib. In older men and women, osteoporosis can sometimes be an indirect cause of death, but more often it’s a cause of a decreased quality of life.

The good news is that today, treatments for osteoporosis, as well as methods to prevent it, are available. And one of the easiest, least expensive treatments is weight-bearing exercise.

What Are Bones?

After we grow up, most of us forget about our bones. But in order to understand osteoporosis, it’s important to think about our bones and understand what they really are.

Bone is living, growing tissue. Throughout our lives, our bodies are continually breaking down old bone and rebuilding new bone. When we’re young, we gain more bone than we lose. Bones then progressively increase in density until a maximum level is reached, usually around age 30. But after about age 35, things change, and we start to lose more bone than we make. Over time, this causes bone density to slowly decrease, and bones become more brittle. In a lifetime, a woman may lose up to 38% of peak bone mass, whereas a man may lose only 23%.

Bone density is much like a honeycomb. A person with good bone strength will have a tightly woven bone matrix, whereas someone with osteoporosis will have big gaps in the honeycomb that make it weak.

The Bone Bank Account

The bones you build today are the same ones you’ll need to stand on in the future. Think of bone as a bank account where you deposit and withdraw bone tissue. During childhood and the teenage years, new bone is added to the skeleton faster than old bone is removed. As a result, bones become larger, heavier, and denser. For most people, bone formation continues at a faster pace than removal until bone mass peaks during the third decade of life.

In order to be able to make deposits of bone tissue and reach the greatest possible peak bone mass, you need to get enough calcium, vitamin D, and exercise—important factors in building bone. After age 35, bone withdrawals can begin to exceed deposits. For many people, this bone loss can be prevented by continuing to get calcium, vitamin D, and exercise, and by avoiding tobacco and excessive alcohol use. Osteoporosis develops when bone removal occurs too quickly or replacement occurs too slowly, or both. You’re more likely to develop osteoporosis if you didn’t reach your maximum peak bone mass during your bone-building years.

Bone Terminology

Throughout life, your bones are constantly renewed through a two-part process called remodeling. This process consists of reabsorption and formation. During reabsorption, old bone tissue is broken down and removed by special cells called osteoclasts. During bone formation, new bone tissue is laid down to replace the old. Special cells called osteoblasts perform this task. By the time most women, in particular, reach 35 years of age, their mass accumulation has reached its peak. After that, bone remodeling begins to reverse and more bone mass is lost than remodeled.

Several hormones regulate osteoclast and osteoblast function: parathyroid hormone, vitamin D, estrogen (in women), and testosterone (in men), among others. In women, after menopause and the loss of estrogen, bones’ inner mesh becomes increasingly thinner, weaker, and more brittle.

OSTEOCLASTS: From the Greek words for bone and broken, osteoclasts are cells that invade the surface of bone and remove the matrix and minerals, leaving small cavities in the bone surface during bone reabsorption.

OSTEOBLASTS: From the Greek words for bone and germ, or embryonic, these are cells that fill small cavities in the bone surface with new bone during bone formation.

CORTICAL BONE: The hard, strong outer shell of bone.

TRABECULAR BONE: This is the interior portion of bone with a