To Reverse Bone Loss; Squats With Weights

No, it doesn’t sound pleasant, but doing squats with weights has been shown to reverse bone loss in middle-aged men. Ditto for deadlifts, lunges and the overhead press, none of which is anywhere near as much fun as and good tennis game. A news release from the University of Missouri reports that researchers at the school studied 38 active, middle-aged men who completed either a weight-lifting program or a jumping program for a year. Both programs required 60-120 minutes of targeted exercises each week, and the researchers measured the men’s bone mass at the beginning of the study and again at six and 12 months using specialized X-ray scans of the whole body, hip and lumbar spine. The envelope please…The researchers found that bone mass of the whole body and lumbar spine significantly increased after six months of completing the weight-lifting or jumping programs, and the increase was maintained at 12 months. Hip-bone density only increased for those who completed the weight-lifting program. Wait, there’s more: The researchers found that only the bone experiencing the mechanical load got stronger, and to build strength the intensity of the loading needs to increase over time. Because bones need to rest to maximize the response, the researchers gave their study subjects “rest weeks.”