Exercise's Effects on Bones and Muscles

The following are useful exercises for osteoarthritis patients:

• Strengthening exercises builds muscle strength. Some experts encourage patients to emphasize strengthening leg muscles as a first treatment step, even before using pain relievers. They fear that patients who rely on pain killing drugs may overuse knees, which do not have muscle tissue sufficiently strong enough to protect the joints from further damage. Strengthening the thigh muscles is certainly protective who have not developed osteoarthritis.
• Range-of-motion exercises increase the amount of movement in a joint and muscle. The best examples are yoga and tai chi, which focus on flexibility, balance, and proper breathing. In one 2001 study, older adults who practiced the gentle movement, breathing, and meditation exercises of tai chi for 10 weeks reported less pain than their peers who did not learn the technique.
• Low-impact aerobic workouts help stabilize and support the joint. Cycling and walking are beneficial, and swimming or exercising in water is highly recommended for people with arthritis. (Arthritic patients should avoid high-impact sports, such as jogging, tennis, and racquetball.)
• Some researchers are now focusing on "power" training, which involves improving the muscle's ability to move more rapidly against resisting forces, such as gravity. (For example, such training helps people to stand up or climb stairs more quickly.) Muscle power declines more rapidly than muscle strength and may be particularly important in older people.

Exercises Effect on Fractures and Falls

Exercise is very important for slowing the progression of osteoporosis and extremely important for reducing the risk for falling, which causes fractures. Falls are one of the leading causes of death in people over age 65. Exercise helps build balance and flexibility, which reduces the risk of falling.

Specific exercises may be especially helpful for reducing the risk for fracture:

• Weight-bearing exercise are very beneficial for bones in people of all ages, even older people. This approach applies tension to muscle and bone, and the body responds to this stress by increasing bone density, in young adults by as much as 2 - 8% a year. Careful weight training can also be very beneficial for elderly people, particularly women. In addition to improving bone density, weight-bearing exercise reduces the risk for fractures by improving muscle strength and balance, thus helping to prevent falls.
• Regular brisk long walks improve bone density and mobility. In one 2002 study, for example, older women reduced their risk of hip fracture by over 40% by working out for just four hours a week.
• Exercises specifically targeted to strengthen the back can be beneficial in improving posture and may even reduce kyphosis (hunchback) in people with osteoporosis.
• Low-impact exercises that improve balance and strength, particularly yoga and tai chi, have been found to decrease the risk of falling. In one study tai chi reduced the risk by almost half.