Could Line Dancing Save You From Osteoporosis?

How can it be possible to improve your bone density and have fun at the same time? A group of scientific researchers certainly thought it was possible. They gathered together 45 older women who had passed menopause, and followed them for several months as they carried out chosen exercises that were believed to improve bone density. One of them was line dancing!

YOUR BONE CELLS CHANGE WHEN YOU PUT THEM UNDER PRESSURE

Scientists have long known that pressure on bones causes them to become stronger. When your skeleton is exposed to weight bearing exercise, the osteoblasts, cells that form bone, soon begin to outnumber the osteoclasts, cells which dissolve bone tissue for remodelling. In osteoporosis there's more bone dissolving going on than building, resulting in fragile bones that break all too easily. But how much weight do you need to put on your skeleton to have a safe but positive effect?

After all if your bones are already fragile, you don't want to exert them to shocks that could bring on another break. Sit in any café in the world for an hour or so and you'll see several older women hobbling past, nervously pushing their walkers and worried that the next fall could take away their independence.

Many studies have looked at resistance training involving static weights at the gym. Although very effective, many people find it difficult to continually comply with an activity that they 'have to' do rather than look forward to. And if you're an older women who has lost her partner, then the gym, where most weight trainers are fully focused on themselves, can be yet another experience of social isolation.

THE FUN EXERCISE THAT'S GOOD FOR YOUR BONES

Researchers from the School of Physiotherapy and Exercise Science at Griffith University knew that to maintain compliance in the long term exercise has to be easy to do, low cost, safe and appealing. So they divided the women into groups. All the women put their happy feet on and headed out to learn line dancing at least once a week. Some of the women did loaded leg squats or foot stamping at home too.

THE WOMEN WHO WENT LINE DANCING GOT RESULTS

The force of feet hitting the floor in line dancing exerted enough pressure to make a subtle positive difference in the bones of the participants over several months. But it did more than that: The women who participated reported better balance and stronger leg muscles, and the opportunity to have fun in a group probably helped them psychologically too. I bet most of them are still dancing!

How could you use this information to make a difference in your bone health? You know how important it is to exercise, and you know that weight bearing exercise is the best for stimulating bone growth. Why not have fun in the process? You could join a local line dancing group, which will give you hours of dancing fun without needing a partner. Have fun!