Ready for stronger bones and a better Dexa scan? You've come to the right place.
This two-week program introduces the key exercise principles, movement patterns and safety cues necessary to successfully exercise for better BMD.
This program is for you if you:
🦴 Want to stop wasting time, effort, money and energy on things that won't move the needle on bone density
🦴 Are tired of confusing, vague, and contradictory advice on how to exercise with osteoporosis
🦴 Know you should be doing more than just walking and yoga, but don't know where to start
🦴Are ready to gain access to proven, research-backed tools and techniques that actually work
When you register for this program, you'll get:
🦴 Evidence-based techniques from experts with a proven track record- no more guesswork or gimmicks
🦴 A multi-faceted, holistic approach to comprehensively reduce fracture risk: better BMD, better balance, better posture
🦴 A trustworthy, science-backed method- did you know we work with both the Bone Health & Osteoporosis Foundation, AND the International Osteoporosis Foundation?
Ready to get on track to stronger bones? Click below to get started!
Why are strength training and yoga good for osteoporosis?
Understanding some key facts about osteoporosis will help make sense of how strength training and yoga can be helpful.
Over time, bones become porous and fragile due to an imbalance in the activity of cells that absorb bone and cells that form bone. This causes an increased rate of resorption of bone, leading to porous bones. The most common sites include the low back and hips, leading to a higher risk for fractures in these areas.
However, this effect is reversible! Here are they key factors to consider:
Bones respond to loading. Our bones specifically strengthen in response to being compressed- exactly what happens when we challenge them with external loads like dumbbells or kettlebells!
Posture is crucial, as good posture helps decrease the risk of compression fractures. Yoga and myofascial release are both excellent tools for improving posture and relieving tension. Yoga also strengthens the muscles that help to maintain better posture for long term improvements.
Balance is key! Strength training and yoga both improve overall musculoskeletal function and proprioception (our awareness of how the body is positioned in space), helping to reduce the risk of falls.
Improving bone density requires a multi-pronged approach- exactly why this program was designed to give you the most well-rounded and holistic approach possible.
Ready to access research-backed exercise techniques to improve your BMD? Use the button below to get on track to stronger bones, reduced fracture risk, and your most vibrant, active life yet.
Meet your instructors, Michaela and Sarah.
Sarah Avery is a Doctor of Physical Therapy, Professional Yoga Therapist, and a 200-hour Yoga Alliance Certified Teacher. She received her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Clarkson University in 2016. She is the owner of Moon Cycle Seed Company, a seed cycling company for women’s health and hormonal support.
Sarah completed a 200 hour training to become a Registered Yoga Teacher, and went on to take over 2,000 hours of training at the Professional Yoga Therapy Institute where she received her certification as a Professional Yoga Therapist practicing Medical Therapeutic Yoga in May, 2020. Currently, there are less than 100 certified PYT practitioners in the United States and Canada.
She created the first in-person osteoporosis program of its kind in 2019, and has successfully helped over 100 patients maintain or improve bone density at her clinic.
Michaela Smith is a Yoga Medicine Therapeutic Specialist, a 500hr Yoga Alliance registered teacher, a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, and a NASM-certified personal trainer. She has a Bachelors of Science and Nutrition Didactic Program in Dietetics from Bastyr University. She's also Kaari's Osteoporosis Program Director.
Michaela teaches a combination of yoga, strength training, meditation, self massage and functional movement, and is passionate about offering a safe and sustainable practice, built around her clients' individual needs. Her multimodal background allows her to blend science, self-awareness and intuition, and she's dedicated to help her clients nourish, heal and live their best and most genuine life. Her collaboration with Sarah on Kaari's 13-week osteoporosis program has helped hundreds of clients maintain or increase bone density.
An evidence-based method you can trust.
Did you know that Kaari is a proud member of the International Osteoporosis Foundation? The IOF's Committee of Corporate Advisors (CCA) is a unique forum composed of a wide and diversified range of companies committed to promoting bone health and improving osteoporosis and fracture prevention and care. As a member of the Committee, Kaari is part of a group of leading companies in pharmaceuticals, orthopaedic/medical devices, and the food and nutrition industries, working together to provide better solutions for osteoporosis sufferers.
Kaari’s Strength Training and Yoga for Osteoporosis program is also listed on the Bone Health and Osteoporosis Foundation's Osteoporosis Awareness and Prevention Month page, and our coaches are frequent presenters at BHOF seminars.
The BHOF's mission is to provide both medical practitioners and patients alike with unbiased, research-backed information about bone health and osteoporosis management. Both the BHOF and the International Osteoporosis Foundation recommend strength training as a safe and effective intervention for osteoporosis- check out their exercise guidelines here.
When you join one of our programs, you can trust you're always getting the most up-to-date protocols, based on the latest research.
Curious to see what your program will look and feel like? Check out some free previews below!
- Day 1: Warm-Up (7:50)
- Day 1, Weight Vest Circuit (Exercise 1 of 3): March with Rotation (5:01)
- Day 1, Weight Vest Circuit (Exercise 2 of 3): Hurdle Step (2:42)
- Day 1, Weight Vest Circuit (Exercise 3 of 3): Rack March (4:28)
- Day 1, Strength Activation Circuit (Exercise 1 of 4): Front Lateral Raises (3:30)
- Day 1, Strength Activation Circuit (Exercise 2 of 4): Reverse Lunges, Unloaded (5:11)
- Day 1, Strength Activation Circuit (Exercise 3 of 4): Plank Hold (5:02)
- Day 1, Strength Activation Circuit (Alternative Exercise 3 of 4): Forearm Plank Hold (7:52)
- Day 1, Strength Activation Circuit (Exercise 4 of 4): Swimmers, Unloaded (3:04)
- Day 1, Strength Circuit (Exercise 1 of 2): Goblet Squat (6:12)
- Day 1, Strength Circuit (Exercise 2 of 2): 3-Point Row (1:54)
- Day 1, Balance: Single Leg Balance + Toe Taps (5:12)
- Day 1, Cool Down: Upper Back Release (8:28)
- Day 3: Warm-Up (7:50)
- Day 3, Weight Vest Circuit (Exercise 1 of 3): Calf Raise + Heel Drop (4:11)
- Day 3, Weight Vest Circuit (Exercise 2 of 3): Curtsy Squat (6:37)
- Day 3, Weight Vest Circuit (Exercise 3 of 3): Lateral Push Press (4:38)
- Day 3, Strength Activation Circuit (Exercise 1 of 4): Push-Ups (4:53)
- Day 3, Strength Activation Circuit (Exercise 2 of 4): Forward Step Ups (7:41)
- Day 3, Strength Activation Circuit (Exercise 3 of 4): Shoulder Taps (3:20)
- Day 3, Strength Activation Circuit (Exercise 4 of 4): Band Pull Aparts (2:27)
- Day 3, Strength Circuit (Exercise 1 of 2): Dumbbell Deadlift (5:52)
- Day 3, Strength Circuit (Exercise 2 of 2): Mini Band Tricep Extension (3:39)
- Day 3, Balance: Unstable Surface Play (8:50)
- Day 3, Cool Down: Mellow Hip & Spine Release (10:25)
- Day 5: Warm-Up (7:50)
- Day 5, Weight Vest Circuit (Exercise 1 of 3): Thoracic Extension Squat (1:14)
- Day 5, Weight Vest Circuit (Exercise 2 of 3): High Knees (1:16)
- Day 5, Weight Vest Circuit (Exercise 3 of 3): Farmers Carry (2:35)
- Day 5, Strength Activation Circuit (Exercise 1 of 4): Bicep Curls (3:23)
- Day 5, Strength Activation Circuit (Exercise 2 of 4): Kickstand Romanian Deadlift (3:35)
- Day 5, Strength Activation Circuit (Exercise 3 of 4): Contralateral Dead Bug (7:14)
- Day 5, Strength Activation Circuit (Exercise 4 of 4): Banded Lower Trap Raise (3:27)
- Day 5. Strength Circuit (Exercise 1 of 2): Split Squats (6:31)
- Day 5, Strength Circuit (Exercise 2 of 2): Overhead Press (2:54)
- Day 5, Balance: Ball Toss (2:50)
- Day 5, Cool Down: Passive Thoracic Extension (7:45)
- Day 8: Warm-Up (7:50)
- Day 8, Weight Vest Circuit (Exercise 1 of 3): March with Rotation (5:01)
- Day 8, Weight Vest Circuit (Exercise 2 of 3): Hurdle Step (2:42)
- Day 8, Weight Vest Circuit (Exercise 3 of 3): Rack March (4:28)
- Day 8, Strength Activation Circuit (Exercise 1 of 4): Mini Band Series (6:25)
- Day 8, Strength Activation Circuit (Exercise 2 of 4): Lateral Step Ups (7:26)
- Day 8, Strength Activation Circuit (Exercise 3 of 4): Halos (4:53)
- Day 8, Strength Activation Circuit (Exercise 4 of 4): Dumbbell Shrugs (1:40)
- Day 8, Strength Circuit (Exercise 1 of 2): Goblet Squat (6:12)
- Day 8, Strength Circuit (Exercise 2 of 2): 3-Point Row (1:54)
- Day 8, Balance: Single Leg Balance + Toe Taps (5:12)
- Day 8, Cool Down: Standing Quad Stretch (3:01)
- Day 10: Warm-Up (7:50)
- Day 10, Weight Vest Circuit (Exercise 1 of 3): Calf Raise + Heel Drop (4:11)
- Day 10, Weight Vest Circuit (Exercise 2 of 3): Curtsy Squat (6:37)
- Day 10, Weight Vest Circuit (Exercise 3 of 3): Lateral Push Press (4:38)
- Day 10, Strength Activation Circuit (Exercise 1 of 4): Front Lateral Raises (3:30)
- Day 10, Strength Activation Circuit (Exercise 2 of 4): Wall Sit (3:39)
- Day 10, Strength Activation Circuit (Exercise 3 of 4): Banded Squat to Overhead Press (2:31)
- Day 10, Strength Activation Circuit (Exercise 4 of 4): Reverse Fly (2:19)
- Day 10, Strength Circuit (Exercise 1 of 2): Dumbbell Deadlift (5:52)
- Day 10, Strength Circuit (Exercise 2 of 2): Mini Band Tricep Extension (3:39)
- Day 10, Balance: Unstable Surface Play (8:50)
- Day 10, Cool Down: Passive Infraspinatus Stretch (8:40)
- Day 12: Warm-Up (7:50)
- Day 12, Weight Vest Circuit (Exercise 1 of 3): Thoracic Extension Squat (1:14)
- Day 12, Weight Vest Circuit (Exercise 2 of 3): High Knees (1:16)
- Day 12, Weight Vest Circuit (Exercise 3 of 3): Farmers Carry (2:35)
- Day 12, Strength Activation Circuit (Exercise 1 of 4): Tricep Kickbacks (4:11)
- Day 12, Strength Activation Circuit (Exercise 2 of 4): Pop Squats (5:04)
- Day 12, Strength Activation Circuit (Alternative Exercise 2 of 4): Pop Squat Modification (1:01)
- Day 12, Strength Activation Circuit (Exercise 3 of 4): Seated Lean Backs (4:24)
- Day 12, Strength Activation Circuit (Exercise 4 of 4): Belly Blanket Pull-Up (2:55)
- Day 12. Strength Circuit (Exercise 1 of 2): Split Squats (6:31)
- Day 12, Strength Circuit (Exercise 2 of 2): Overhead Press (2:54)
- Day 12, Balance: Ball Toss (2:50)
- Day 12, Cool Down: Supine Quad & Hip Flexor Stretch (4:34)
Bone density: what works, what doesn't, and what's really needed for a BMD boost.
We get it: there's a lot of vague, confusing and even contradictory advice out there! It can difficult to sort the wheat from the chaff and figure out what actually works.
The good news? Exercise as a bone density intervention is an extremely well-researched topic. To get clarity on what's needed to improve bone density, all we need to do is look to the tens of thousands of studies on the topic!
Strength training with low bone density is safe, and it works.
Research overwhelmingly shows that resistance training is a safe and effective intervention for osteoporosis. The ground-breaking LIFTMOR randomized controlled trial (Watson et al, 2017) set the bar for strength training as an effective bone-building tool for osteoporotic postmenopausal women, and other studies have found that lower-weight, high-rep programs can also boost bone density (Peterson et al, 2017). A recent study (Li et al, 2023) found that strength training even after a vertebral fracture was not only safe, but also helped to improve balance and functional strength for daily activities!
Strength training improves balance and muscle strength. A wealth of research supports the efficacy of weight vests in increasing bone density (Snow et al, 2000), improving balance (Roghani et al, 2012), and boosting quadriceps strength. This is significant given that decreased muscle strength and impaired balance are significant risk factors for fall-related fractures.
Strength training improves multiple markers of quality of life: functional mobility, reduced thoracic kyphosis/ better posture (Li et al, 2023), walking ability, dynamic balance, and confidence in performing tasks of daily life are all boosted by appropriate strength training interventions. Increased muscle mass also has a positive effect on body composition- another variable that contributes to enhanced quality of life.
Studies show that strength training safe and effective for adults in their 60s, 70s, and even 80s (Churchward-Venne et al., 2015; Da Boit et al., 2017; Holwerda et al., 2018, Marzuca-Nassr et al, 2023).
