How to Increase Bone Density Using Free Weights

Increasing your bone density with free weights and exercise is one of the most widely and consistently recommended, doctor approved activities one can adopt for improvement of skeletal integrity and longevity. Most physicians will approve some form of free weight activity for any person, so great are the potential benefits to bone density.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Free weights for home use

Make a Commitment You Can Keep

1. Commit to lifting free weights at least three times a week to increase bone density. Because our bones thin as we age, building and then maintaining bone density requires ongoing effort.
2. Be honest about where and when you can work out with free weights. If the best gym in town is a 45-minute drive away, you may be better off enrolling at the mediocre gym around the corner.
3. Buy a set of free weights to use at home. Keep them somewhere you can very easily reach them, so that you are not discouraged from working out. The weights you keep at home can be used regularly as an adjunct to your gym workouts.

Increase Bone Density Using Free Weights

4. Balance your workout to exercise both your upper and lower body. You may use free weights to perform both upper- and lower-body exercises each and every time you work out, or you may opt to perform upper-body exercises one day and lower-body exercises the next.
5. Find the right weight. You should be able to perform 10 to 12 repetitions (reps) per set, and two to three sets per workout. Over time, as you increase your muscle mass, you may be able to switch to heavier free weights.
6. Perform bicep curls to strengthen your arms. Stand with your legs shoulder-width apart and your knees slightly bent. Hold a weight in each hand, with your elbows by your sides, and "curl" the weights up. You can curl them up halfway (so that they are parallel to the floor) or the full way (up toward your shoulders).
7. Perform overhead presses to work on your shoulders.
8. Do bench presses and/or flies to work on your chest muscles (your pectorals).
9. Work on your lateral dumbbell raises to develop your deltoids.
10. Read step-by-step instructions on how to perform a variety of exercises safely at the Georgia State University Web site (see Resources below).

Tips & Warnings

• Older men and women may consider alternatives to free weights. For instance, some people with osteoporosis wear weighted vests to work out safely. Walking around the block in a weighted vest can be a safe and sensible alternative to doing bench presses!

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