No Bones About It

Osteoporosis is the loss of bone density coupled with nicks and cracks in the bone that accumulate over time. These two factors contribute to fragile bones, which are more likely to fracture than healthy bones are.

“Up until your late 20s or by the time you’re 30, your bones are at their peak mass, but then the aging changes start. They’re very slow at first. There isn’t very much change up to about age 50,” says Niewoehner. Then menopause speeds things up. “Women lose estrogen. Estrogen sort of acts like a brake on the process that causes bone loss, and [as the estrogen level decreases], there are 5 to 10 years of dramatically increased bone loss.”

Niewoehner says the bone starts to look like “latticework or Swiss cheese. The lattice begins to lose its connection, so it becomes sort of a ladder without rungs. It loses its strength.”

Osteoporosis is called a silent disease because there generally are no symptoms. Most osteoporosis is diagnosed through a bone-density test called a dual energy x-ray absorptiometry, or DEXA scan.

Resistance Training

Dobesh has worked with clients who have osteoporosis and sees firsthand how difficult it can be to develop fitness regimens that give them the workout they need without causing further harm. She has seen positive results and knows there is hope at any age.

Impact aerobics were very big when she was in her 30s, and it’s this type of weight-bearing exercise that leads to increased bone density. “But high-impact aerobics are very hard on your joints and everything else. Over time, you can’t continue at that level,” says Dobesh. “Low-impact aerobics are just as beneficial as long as you have the impact and the movement.” Aerobics is a cardiovascular workout, but as a type of weight-bearing exercise, it also helps strengthen bones.

For Keller, stopping bone loss from osteoporosis was possible, but not without a lot of work. Before her diagnosis, she was a dedicated walker, putting in many miles near her Cedar Lake home. She looked like she was in great shape, but walking was just about the only exercise she had ever gotten in her life.

Just over two years ago, she was extremely ill and spent 18 months recovering from what she calls a “botched surgery” unrelated to her osteoporosis that left her extremely weak. Then, Keller’s husband, Ed, died one year ago of Parkinson’s disease, and she was still so weak that she wondered if she’d be able to live by herself.

“I got so I could barely open up a can of pop,” Keller says. Friends suggested that she try working with a personal trainer. “I took their suggestion because I realized how physically weak I was. I’m on my own and I can’t be calling my son over every time to open a jar for me.”

Keller contracted with Paul Kochevar, co-owner of Homfit, a Minneapolis company offering home- and work-based personal training. “I used to kid Paul all the time that I was paying him to torture me. It was so hard for me at first,” says Keller.