5 At-Home Exercises to Help with Mild Osteoporosis

About Nicole Pajer

Nicole Pajer is a Los Angeles-based freelance published in The New York Times, Woman's Day, AARP, Parade, Wired, Glamour, People and more.

If you’ve been diagnosed with osteoporosis, it means that your bone density is weaker and you may be prone to more easily breaking a bone. This may make it seem like engaging in aerobic activity or strength training could be risky and something you want to avoid. But in many cases, exercise can actually help to reduce the risk of injuries by strengthening muscles and bones and improving balance. Working out with osteoporosis can also help to improve your posture and may even lessen pain.

Before starting any exercise program, it’s important to ask your doctor for any guidance on things you should/shouldn’t do, as each person’s diagnosis is unique to them. And in general, people with weaker bones will want to avoid higher-impact exercises like running, jumping or jogging or rapid movements, which could lead to fractures. You should also be careful with bending at the waist or twisting the spine. Thus, experts recommend avoiding things like toe touches or sit ups.

If you have mild osteoporosis and are looking for some gentle ways to workout, here are 5 exercises to try at home.

1. Walking

Feeling overwhelmed about exercising with osteoporosis and not sure where to start? This is a good way to ease in. It’s low-risk and doesn’t involve a gym so it’s something you can do anywhere. Plus, when you do it outdoors, you’re also getting a dose of vitamin D, which is extra beneficial to bone health.

Tips for getting the most out of your walk:

Select a pair of comfortable, supportive walking shoes with good shock absorption.
Start small: Strive to go to the end of the street or around the block and move up from there.
As your endurance builds, gradually increase your distance and time.
Add short intervals of brisk walking. One small study found that increasing your pace to about 3.7 mph (a 16-minute mile) places more mechanical force on your hips—a good thing for stimulating bone growth.
Aim for 30 minutes at least 3 days per week (ideally on most days) per the International Osteoporosis Foundation.

2. Chair Squats

Squats can help to strengthen key postural muscles in your body, like your legs and butt – key areas for bone health and fall prevention, says certified fitness trainer Jason Kozma. You can do these without assistance but to make them even lower impact, you can do them with the help of a chair.

Here’s how to do chair squats:

Stand in front of a sturdy chair with your feet hip-width apart.
Lower yourself down slowly and sit in the chair.
Straighten your back and keep your shoulders straight.
Slowly stand back up without using your hands.
Repeat 8-12 times.

3. Bridges

This exercise is a gentle, low-impact way to strengthen your core, hamstrings and glutes– key muscles in helping to maintain proper posture and stability.

You can do bridges by:

Lie on your back with your arms at your sides and your palms resting on the floor.
Bend your knees and keep your feet flat on the floor.
Slowly raise your hips, lifting your buttocks as high as you can and keeping your back straight in the process.
Pause.
Lower down slowly.
Repeat 8-12 times.

4. Shoulder Blade Squeezes

“This exercise strengthens upper back muscles and improves posture, which can help prevent spine rounding,” says Kozma. It doesn’t involve equipment and can be done anywhere around your home. They can also be performed sitting or standing, whatever is most comfortable and helps you to feel more stable.

Here’s how to do shoulder blade squeezes:

Sit or stand with good posture.
Pull your shoulder blades back and down as if you’re trying to pinch them together.
Hold for 5 seconds and release.
Repeat 8-12 times.

5. Heel raises

“One move I often recommend is the heel raise,” says Maria Vazquez, head of training with MYWOWFIT, who often works with women 50+ who are dealing with osteoporosis. This move, she says, strengthens your calves and ankles, which helps with balance. “That matters, because strong lower legs make it easier to stay steady on your feet and avoid falls,” adds Vazquez.

To do heel raises:

Stand behind a chair for support.
Slowly lift your heels to stand on your toes, then lower back down.
Repeat 8-12 times.

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