Professor Belinda Beck FACSM, FESSA, FASMF
School of Health Sciences and Social Work
Bone and muscle strength decline with age. Whether or not the process is purely an age-related phenomenon, or a manifestation of the reduction in mechanical loading across the lifespan is not well understood. What is known is that the rate of decline in bone and muscle accelerates markedly at menopause with the reduction in circulating oestrogen. The risk of low trauma fracture increases in parallel as not only are weaker bones less able to resist trauma, but weaker muscles are less able to prevent falls. While exercise prescription for muscle strength has long been well characterised, an effective exercise prescription to safely improve osteoporotic bone has only recently been established. Not all forms of exercise provide an equally effective stimulus for bone and some activities may be hazardous for an osteoporotic skeleton. Similarly, only very specific high-challenge balance training is likely to notably stimulate sufficient neuromuscular adaptation to reduce falls and fracture. A recent series of trials testing a highly targeted exercise program for osteoporosis observed excellent outcomes for both bone and functional outcomes in older adults at risk of low trauma fracture. This talk will address the principles of effective exercise for the prevention of low trauma fracture after menopause by improving muscle and bone mass, strength and function.