Plyometrics as a Prevention Strategy for Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a worldwide health problem that affects 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men, over 50. Data from the International Osteoporosis Foundation indicates that an osteoporotic fracture occurs every 3 seconds, resulting in 8.9 million fractures annually.

If you're not a post-menopausal woman or elderly man, you may be struggling to care about an issue that may not affect you for the foreseeable decades; however, in the case of osteoporosis (much as many things in life), it would seem that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. 

I would draw your attention to research which suggests that increasing bone mass during and after 'growth' may be an important strategy to ensure the outlook for your future is fifty and fit as a fiddle. Specifically, that increases of Bone Mineral Density of just 3 - 5% can reduce fracture risk by up to 30%. That's a 30% decrease in the likelihood that you will spend your twilight years in and out of hospitals for various replacements or worse - wheelchair bound and institutionalised in a nursing facility.

Plyometric Prevention Plan

In the study at hand, the researchers aimed to investigate the effects that 9 months of plyometric jump training would have on the Bone Mineral Content of adolescent girls (aged 14.6, give or take 6 months, and 22.7, give or take 14 months).

Exercise Protocol

Participants trained three times a week for 30 - 45 minutes. They began with progressive resistance exercises (squats, forward and side lunges, bench stepping and jumping on and off of a 20cm box).

They did about 2 sets, comprising 8 - 12 reps and the intensity was slowly taken from 5 - 15% of their bodyweight over a number of months. This means that a 55kg participant wore a nylon weighted vest weighing 2.75kg - 8.25kg.

The girls also did various plyometric exercises ranging from simple two footed jumps to stair jumping, bounding, and depth jumps from 12 to 24 inch boxes (see below).

Plyometric drills progressed from two sets, 10 reps of five to seven different exercises (100 - 140 jumps) to two to three sets,  2 - 20 reps of 12 - 20 exercises in the final months (360 - 1000 total jumps). While that number sounds extremely high, the researchers were careful to choose the exercises in such a way that the number of high intensity jumps was only between 40 - 100 in the final months.

Results

At the end of 9 months, the trends in bone mineral density observed in the participants led the researchers to suggest that plyometric jump training continued over a longer period may in adolescents may increase peak bone mass.

This could indeed be a novel way to help prevent the onset of osteoporosis in later years by instituting safe and effective behavioural changes in those of a younger age.

Not an adolescent? Fear not, it's never too late to start to reap the benefits of loading on bone mass. In my next blog, I will provide some good starting examples of exercises that can be both practical plyometric methods of inducing bone mineral density and uptake, as well as, fun ways to alter an otherwise boring training routine.


Reference:

Witzke, K. A., & Snow, C. M. (1999). Effects of plyometric jump training on bone mass in adolescent girls. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 0195-9131/00/3206-1051/0.