alt Hacker NewsOh this is so bad:
> In the 19th century German surgeon and anatomist Julius Wolff recognized that healthy bones adapt and change in response to the load placed on them. That is why everyone—but especially women, who are more susceptible than men to osteoporosis—should lift weights as they age
No, weight lifting won't improve bone density, it's running that will
edit: https://theros.org.uk/information-and-support/bone-health/ex...
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Source? Because I found plenty of studies on the topic, and there seems to be a fairly universal consensus that goes the exact counter of what you claim. I.e., studies state that weight and resistance training helps with improving bone density significantly, while aerobic exercise (walking/cycling/etc.) doesn’t.
Here are excerpts from one of the papers[0], but you can find many more agreeing with that take:
“Prolonged aerobic training (e.g., swimming, cycling, and walking) is widely beneficial to all body systems, but there are clinical evidences suggesting that none of these activities provide an adequate stimulus to bones”
“Based on the available information, RE [resistance training, e.g., weightlifting/machines/etc], either alone or in combination with other interventions, may be the most optimal strategy to improve the muscle and bone mass in postmenopausal women, middle-aged men, or even the older population.
Squats/Deadlifts, not bicep curls with 3lb dumbbells. And yes, it absolutely will improve bone density.
I have some books translated from Russian that that I acquired back in my powerlifting days and that showed studies the Russians did on Olympic weightlifters. The children (who had been lifting heavy since a very young age) had bone mineral densities far higher than average untrained adults. The adult Olympic weight lifters had bone mineral densities that were completely off the scale, as the book put it "in polar bear territory". Granted, these study participants were people explosively lifting hundreds of pounds from floor to overhead in the blink of an eye, not your average gymbro, but still.
Further down that page it actually says:
"Progressive muscle resistance training is the best type of muscle-strengthening exercise for your bones. It involves using weights or resistance bands to build up the work for your muscles to do over time. You do this by gradually increasing the weight you lift, in a slow and controlled way. As you train, you’ll find the movements get easier as your muscles get stronger."
It's my understanding that weight lifting is superior to running for increasing bone density but that both together are superior to any one singular. Makes me think about a Mark Rippetoe article from several years back he helps an older woman (60? 80s?) eliminate her lower back pain with weight lifting and strength training exercises. Rippetoe isn't pefect, but he has a good-enough track record on this stuff.
I had a lateral fracture of my right humerus (arm snapped in half) and the only thing that made the pain go away was strength training. High-rep endurance exercises didn't help, hundreds of pushups a day didn't help, but after I switched to high-weight lift-to-fail the pain slowly disappeared.