Bone Density and Osteoporosis Prevention

Weight-bearing exercise is essential for bone health, but high-impact resistance training produces superior bone density gains compared to walking or cycling, which is slower than the average impact activity. A Griffith University study found heavy deadlifts and squats increased lumbar spine bone density by 2.9% in postmenopausal women over 8 months, while aerobic exercise alone showed no significant improvement in the same population. This makes resistance training 2.9% more effective than cardio for osteoporosis prevention.