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Stop bone loss: 4 easy steps
Aging the right way
Kos Zharoid
April 27, 2025
Bones of steel? More like bones of oatmeal.
Think osteoporosis is an "old people" problem? Spoiler: the countdown starts before you hit 30. Here’s how to catch up (and why it’s not too late).
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Building your bone bank.
Your bones reach maximum strength when you're between 25 and 30. This is the peak time when your body builds bone tissue. Afterward, your body withdraws calcium from this "bone bank" to maintain important body functions.
Here's what you need to know:
When your body withdraws more calcium than you have stored, your bones become weaker. First, you develop osteopenia (slightly weak bones), then potentially osteoporosis (very fragile bones).
Simply put, you'll reach dangerous bone weakness faster if you don't build strong bones in your early years. This can lead to serious fractures from even minor falls.
So why didn't anyone teach us to strengthen our bones during our 20s?
Osteoporosis starts much earlier than you think.
Many people think osteoporosis only affects older women. The truth is that the foundation for osteoporosis is laid decades earlier, and it impacts both men and women!
By age 18 for girls and 20 for boys, about 90% of their maximum bone mass has already developed. The remaining 10% continues growing until age 30.
Most young people don't realize this. If they harm their bone health through poor eating habits, lack of exercise, or hormone problems, they start life with weaker bones. This weakness sets them up for osteoporosis many years later.
Is it too late for me?
You might think the game isn’t worth the candle since time has already been lost.
Not at all! You can always improve or maintain your bone health. Here are some strategies:
Weight training preserves bone density.
Lifting weights is one of the most effective non-drug approaches for women after menopause to strengthen their bones. That's a fact.
This works because bones are living tissues that respond to pressure. Similar to muscles, when you lift weights, the force creates tiny strains in your bones.
These small stresses activate osteoblasts - cells that build new bone tissue. The process of turning physical stress into bone growth is called mechanotransduction.
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Women should pay special attention.
This process is especially important for women. After menopause, estrogen levels drop dramatically. Estrogen helps maintain bone balance. Without enough estrogen, bone breakdown happens faster than bone formation, causing bone loss and higher fracture risk.
Weight training can help fix this imbalance.
Research shows that post-menopausal women who did intense resistance and impact exercises (like deadlifts, squats, and overhead presses) significantly improved bone density in their spine and hip - the two areas most likely to fracture in osteoporosis.
While weighted vests are popular, we need much more than that. We need to lift progressively heavier weights that challenge our entire skeleton.
Your weight training plan.
Here's how to strength train for better bone health:
Go heavy. Use weights that challenge you (about 70-85% of your maximum capacity). This means weights you can only lift 8-12 times before needing to rest!
Focus on exercises that work for multiple muscle groups at once. Prioritize squats, lunges, step-ups, rows, and presses.
Stay consistent. Try to train 2–3 times every week.
Getting tested for bone density.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force suggests that women 65 or older should be screened for osteoporosis. But osteoporosis is also diagnosed at 50 years of age.
Why wait until prevention is no longer possible?
Since testing is easy, safe, and affordable, you may ask your doctor about getting a Dual-Energy X-ray (DEXA) scan before age 65, if it makes sense for you.
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More ways to build stronger bones.
Beyond weight training, try these strategies for stronger bones:
Get calcium from food. Aim for 1,200 mg of calcium daily from dairy products, leafy greens, fortified foods, etc.
Research found that post-menopausal women who took 1,000 mg of calcium supplements daily had a mean rate of loss of total-body bone mineral density reduced by 43% in the calcium group as compared with the placebo group.
The relationship between calcium and vitamin K2.
Vitamin K2 is a traffic controller for calcium in your body. Instead of letting calcium build up in places it shouldn't - like your kidneys or arteries - it guides calcium exactly where it needs to go.
Osteocalcin is a vitamin K2-dependent protein that the body needs to pull calcium from the bloodstream to deposit where we want it: in the bones and teeth. Osteocalcin also stimulates the growth of new dentin, the calcified tissue beneath the tooth enamel, which reduces the risk of cavities and slows tooth degradation.
Not by calcium alone.
Human bone consists of a mineral phase, which accounts for about two-thirds, mainly calcium phosphate. And an organic phase, which makes up about one-third, is primarily composed of collagen fibers.
Collagen, especially type I collagen, forms a dense network that provides tensile strength, while the mineral component offers rigidity.
Protein makes them elastic. Eat enough protein. Try consuming about 1.6 grams per kilogram of your body weight each day. The protein you consume should be from at least 30% collagen sources.
Stop habits that weaken bones. Avoid smoking and limit alcohol, as both speed up bone loss.
Consider medication when needed. Talk to your doctor about bisphosphonates or other bone-strengthening medicines if you're at high risk.
The best time to start working on your health is right now, no matter how old you are.
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