Osteopenia!

[sleepyhead]

I can't live in denial any longer (sigh) - I am getting old. Just got the results of my bone density test back and I have decreased bone mass in my left hip and lumbar spine, with increased fracture risk. I start Fosamax this weekend.

What really sucks is that I have been doing weight-bearing exercise for over a year now to try to keep my bone mass up. Obviously it hasn't helped. My doctor told me to keep up the exercise, but I'm thinking that I need to modify my routine. I go to the gym 3-4 times a week and do at least an hour and a half of cardio (45 min elliptical and 45 min spinning) with some resistance training in between. I use the weight machines to work out rather than free weights (which I find boring - also, I have less risk of hurting myself on the machines - I am clumsy!) My gut feeling is that I should start using higher weights (and probably fewer reps) in order to strengthen my bones. Is this correct? If not, any other bright ideas?

[seemunkee]

1. Not sure about helping bone loss

But I always advocate higher weight/fewer reps. It builds dense strong muscle not large relatively weak muscle.
Find out what your one rep max is for a certain exercise. Do 80% of that for 5 reps X 3 sets. Re check the one rep max every 4-6 weeks.