Osteoporosis treatment
I'm her2 and Er positive and just finished herceptin and on arimidex for 10 years. I have osteoporosis in my arms. Just made an appt with Bone Clinic in Dee Why. They are a licensee of Bone Clinic in ...
Forum Discussion
Hi @jennyss
Yes the program through the Bone Clinic is research based and they say that weightlifting is far better than walking for improving bone density.
My personal experience certainly backs this up. When I was first aware that I had low bone density (just before I switched from Tamoxifen to Femara) I was training for a trek to Everest Base Camp. I was walking steep hills daily and covering 60 plus km every week, carrying 8kg in my backpack. My doctors and I thought this would be more than enough to counteract Femara. It was not. I actually lost 11% of my bone density in just 12 months on Femara despite all the hiking I was doing. I came back from successfully reaching the Base Camp of Mt Everest and had my bone density scan to find out my density was now osteoporotic! I was devastated.
The weightlifting program I do is supervised. We are trained in the correct way to do deadlifts, overhead shoulder presses and squats using barbells. We start off with no weight, just weeks of practise in the technique. When the coaches are satisfied that you are doing the lifts correctly you progress to using actual weights. The program also includes some jump chins for impact to stimulate bone growth and core strength exercises. There are balance exercises too.
Diet is looked at too to ensure it is optimum for bone health. The research has shown that you only need to complete the program 2 times a week for good results. It takes 45mins. I have been doing the program for 18 months or so now. I can now deadlift my own body weight (when I started, 12 kg felt heavy!) and squat lift 50 kg. The lifts we do strengthen your whole body. Even my hand grip is so much stronger now. My bone density has improved so much and my doctors are happy for me to proceed with this rather than bone meds.
Unfortunately it is not something that you can just do yourself. As you can imagine, without proper training and supervision using heavy weights could do some serious harm. The program is receiving a lot of publicity and many exercise physiologists are now getting licensed to do it in various locations. The Bone Clinic itself has training centres in Brisbane, Toowoomba, Sunshine and Gold Coasts and Bundaberg. I’ve gone from devestation to amazement that something this simple can be so effective. Just 11/2 hours a week and I have healthier bones again. Will be interesting to see how it goes over the 6 more years I have on Femara. I am still improving in the weights I am lifting so maybe my bone density will improve some more yet. :)
Yes the program through the Bone Clinic is research based and they say that weightlifting is far better than walking for improving bone density.
My personal experience certainly backs this up. When I was first aware that I had low bone density (just before I switched from Tamoxifen to Femara) I was training for a trek to Everest Base Camp. I was walking steep hills daily and covering 60 plus km every week, carrying 8kg in my backpack. My doctors and I thought this would be more than enough to counteract Femara. It was not. I actually lost 11% of my bone density in just 12 months on Femara despite all the hiking I was doing. I came back from successfully reaching the Base Camp of Mt Everest and had my bone density scan to find out my density was now osteoporotic! I was devastated.
The weightlifting program I do is supervised. We are trained in the correct way to do deadlifts, overhead shoulder presses and squats using barbells. We start off with no weight, just weeks of practise in the technique. When the coaches are satisfied that you are doing the lifts correctly you progress to using actual weights. The program also includes some jump chins for impact to stimulate bone growth and core strength exercises. There are balance exercises too.
Diet is looked at too to ensure it is optimum for bone health. The research has shown that you only need to complete the program 2 times a week for good results. It takes 45mins. I have been doing the program for 18 months or so now. I can now deadlift my own body weight (when I started, 12 kg felt heavy!) and squat lift 50 kg. The lifts we do strengthen your whole body. Even my hand grip is so much stronger now. My bone density has improved so much and my doctors are happy for me to proceed with this rather than bone meds.
Unfortunately it is not something that you can just do yourself. As you can imagine, without proper training and supervision using heavy weights could do some serious harm. The program is receiving a lot of publicity and many exercise physiologists are now getting licensed to do it in various locations. The Bone Clinic itself has training centres in Brisbane, Toowoomba, Sunshine and Gold Coasts and Bundaberg. I’ve gone from devestation to amazement that something this simple can be so effective. Just 11/2 hours a week and I have healthier bones again. Will be interesting to see how it goes over the 6 more years I have on Femara. I am still improving in the weights I am lifting so maybe my bone density will improve some more yet. :)