12/17/2025
To understand why high intensity works, we have to look at Wolff’s Law. Simply put, your bones are living tissue that adapts to the loads placed upon them. If you place a heavy load on a bone, it remodels itself to become stronger to handle that load in the future.
Conversely, if you remove the load (like floating in space or being bedridden), bones weaken. The critical finding in recent research is that the "load" needs to be higher than what you encounter in daily life to stimulate new bone growth.
The most compelling evidence comes from the LIFTMOR (Lifting Intervention For Training Muscle and Osteoporosis Rehabilitation) trial, a landmark study published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.
Researchers recruited post-menopausal women with low bone mass (osteopenia or osteoporosis). They were split into two groups:
1)Low-Intensity Group: Performed a home-based, low-intensity exercise program (walking, low-load resistance).
2)HiRIT Group: Performed supervised high-intensity resistance and impact training. This included deadlifts, overhead presses, and back squats at 80-85% of their 1-repetition maximum, plus jumping chin-ups with drop landings.
The results were groundbreaking.
The high-intensity group showed:
Significant increases in bone mineral density (BMD) at the lumbar spine and femoral neck (hip).
The diagnosis of osteoporosis or osteopenia should not be a sentence to a sedentary, fearful life.
The science tells us that our bones are capable of getting stronger at any age, provided we give them the right stimulus.
It’s time to stop fearing the weight room and start embracing it as a pharmacy for our skeletal health.
Contact our clinic to find out how you can start growing your bones!
