Osteoporosis Awareness and Prevention

May is Osteoporosis Awareness Month, and we wanted to highlight some of the fantastic classes and instructors the YWCA of Asheville offers to help you stay strong. Some bone loss is inevitable as we age – women are especially, but not exclusively, at risk – but weight-bearing exercises like walking, running, and weight lifting can shore up areas of weakness and increase bone density. Lucky for you we have knowledgeable and helpful instructors offering classes like Power Posture and Bone Strength, Stability & Balance, Small Group Strength Training, and Functional Fitness. These classes guide you through movements that safely load the bones, support, posture, and promote resilience and balance. In addition, standing and seated exercises build strength and balance for increased capabilities in activities of daily living and prevention of injury. Fyffe and Pierre-Andre are two instructors who focus on building bone strength in their classes, and Fyffe is proud to know that her classes “have enhanced people’s lives, allowing them to feel confident in activities of daily living.”

Fitness class members report real, measurable results. Maurie was a faithful participant in water aerobics but after a bone density test showed osteoporosis, she knew she had to do more weight-bearing exercise. After two and a half years of land-based fitness classes, especially Pierre-Andre’s Power Posture class, her latest bone density test revealed that she was no longer in osteoporosis. Maurie says “I’m absolutely thrilled about having accomplished that at my age, and I just feel so much stronger.”

Weight-bearing exercise is crucial, and at the YW there is more than one way to get it. Our fitness classes are varied and provide movement for daily living, but walking and running are also great ways to strengthen bones. In June, we’ll start a Couch to 5K training workshop to help get you up and moving, improving your endurance and bone health