A SIMPLE EXERCISE FOR STRONGER BONES AFTER 50
Want an exercise that strengthens your legs, challenges your balance, helps maintain your bones, and trains you for something you probably do every day?
Meet the step-up.
It isn’t glamorous. Nobody is going to build an infomercial around stepping onto a box.
But after 50, some of the best exercises aren’t the fancy ones. They’re the exercises that help us continue doing the things we want to do.
And the step-up is one of my favorites.
Why I Like the Step-Up
Think about how often you use this movement. Walking up stairs. Stepping onto a curb. Getting onto a bus. Climbing onto a hiking trail. Even getting into certain cars requires essentially the same movement.
You plant one foot, push through that leg, and lift your body upward.
That’s a step-up.
And the stronger you are at doing it, the easier many everyday activities become.
But there is another reason I particularly like step-ups after 50.
They may also be good for your bones.
Your Bones Need to Be Challenged
Bone is living tissue.
When you place mechanical stress on your bones, your body senses that stress. Weight-bearing and resistance exercises help provide the signals that encourage your body to maintain strong bone.
Think of it as your body asking: “Do we still need all this bone?”
If you’re regularly loading your skeleton, the answer is: Yes, we certainly do.
Step-ups provide that load.
When you step onto a platform, the muscles of your hip and leg contract to lift your entire body against gravity. That places force through the bones of your legs and hips.
And the hip is particularly important as we get older.
Hip fractures are among the most serious complications of osteoporosis. That’s one reason maintaining strong muscles and bones around the hips should be part of a healthy-aging exercise program.
No single exercise is going to prevent osteoporosis.
But step-ups can be an excellent part of a program that includes strength training, weight-bearing exercise, good nutrition, adequate calcium and vitamin D, and osteoporosis screening when appropriate.
The Benefits Go Beyond Your Bones
Step-ups primarily work your quadriceps, glutes, hamstrings, and calves.
Those are some pretty important muscles.
They’re the muscles that help you walk, climb stairs, get out of a chair, and catch yourself when you stumble.
Step-ups also require you to briefly support yourself primarily on one leg. That challenges balance and coordination.
So with one relatively simple movement you’re working on:
- Leg and hip strength
- Weight-bearing bone loading
- Balance
- Coordination
- Functional fitness
That’s a pretty good return on your investment. And you don’t need an expensive piece of exercise equipment.
How to Do a Step-Up
Start with a low, sturdy step. If you’re new to the exercise, don’t worry about how high it is. Lower is better while you’re learning.
Stand facing the step with your feet about hip-width apart.
Place your entire right foot on the step. You don’t want your heel hanging off the back.
Now lean forward slightly and push through your right foot to bring your body upward.
Try to let the leg on the step do most of the work rather than launching yourself off the floor with your other foot.
Bring your left foot onto the step.
Pause.
Then step back down under control.
Repeat several times and then switch legs.
That’s it.
Simple doesn’t mean ineffective.
How Many Should You Do?
If you’re just beginning, try:
8–10 repetitions on each leg for 1–2 sets.
As you become stronger, gradually work toward two or three sets.
But don’t get too caught up in the numbers. I would rather see you perform eight good, controlled step-ups than twenty sloppy ones.
Once the exercise becomes easy, you have several options.
You can increase the height of the step. You can do more repetitions. Or you can hold light dumbbells to increase the resistance.
That last option can be particularly useful because gradually increasing resistance provides additional challenge to both your muscles and your bones.
Make It Easier If You Need To
Maybe you try a step-up and discover that your balance isn’t quite as good as you thought.
That’s okay.
Put the step next to a sturdy railing, countertop, or other stable surface and lightly hold on. You aren’t cheating. You’re making the exercise appropriate for your current ability.
As your balance improves, gradually use less assistance.
You can also start with a very low step—even four inches can be plenty for a beginner.
Remember, we’re not training for the Olympics.
We’re training for life.
A Few Mistakes to Avoid
Don’t choose a step that is too high. If you have to throw your body forward or push hard off the trailing leg to get yourself up, lower the step.
Keep your knee generally tracking in the same direction as your toes rather than allowing it to collapse inward.
Keep your entire foot on the platform.
And perhaps most importantly, control the trip back down.
Don’t simply drop onto the floor.
The lowering portion of the exercise is valuable strength training too.
Slow and controlled wins this race.
What If You Have Osteoporosis?
For many people, step-ups can be an excellent weight-bearing exercise.
But osteoporosis isn’t the same in everyone.
If you’ve been diagnosed with significant osteoporosis, have had a previous hip or spinal fracture, have substantial balance problems, or haven’t exercised for a long time, talk with your physician or physical therapist about which exercises are appropriate for you.
We want to challenge your bones.
We don’t want to challenge your emergency room deductible.
Dr. Mike’s Prescription
Try adding step-ups to your strength routine two or three times per week.
Start with a low step. Perform 8–10 controlled repetitions on each leg. Use a railing or countertop if you need it. As you become stronger, gradually increase the challenge.
That’s progressive exercise in its simplest form.
And remember why we’re doing it.
We aren’t strengthening our legs and bones so we can brag about our step-up technique.
We’re doing it so that five, ten, or twenty years from now, when there’s a staircase in front of us, we don’t have to wonder whether we can climb it.
We just walk up.
One step at a time.