Lift heavy twice a week, for thirty minutes. Heavy means five sets of five reps at about 85 percent of the most you can lift once.
That is the protocol from LIFTMOR, a randomized trial published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research in 2018. The participants were 101 postmenopausal women with low bone mass, average age sixty-five.
The training group did deadlifts, back squats and overhead presses. They added jumping chin-ups with a firm drop landing for impact.
After eight months, their lumbar spine bone density rose 2.9 percent. The control group, doing light home exercise, lost 1.2 percent over the same period.
At the femoral neck, a common site of hip fracture, the lifting group held steady at plus 0.3 percent. The control group lost 1.9 percent.
Bone adapts to loads that challenge it. Light loads give it far less reason to change.
For years, women with low bone mass were steered away from heavy lifting as too risky. In this trial, the only reported adverse event was one minor lower back spasm.
The conditions matter. Every session was supervised, the women were screened first, and they spent the first month learning technique at light loads before going heavy.
This is one well-run trial of about a hundred women, not the final word. The direction it points is clear.
Book two sessions a week with a coach or physical therapist who can teach the deadlift, squat and overhead press. Spend four weeks on form at light loads, then build toward five sets of five.
If you have osteoporosis, a past fracture or a spine condition, take this to your doctor first. Ask: “Is supervised high-intensity resistance training appropriate for my bone density results?”
Bring your last DEXA numbers to that appointment. Those are the numbers this move is built to change.
