ONERO^TM

For decades, the conversation about osteoporosis has been centered on consumption of calcium and estrogen replacement therapies, an approach that has been proven as an oversimplified solution to a condition that involves many factors: nutrition, lifestyle, and genetics. When examining the scientific evidence regarding exercise, improvements seemed modest at best. Walking will improve your health, but it will not build bone. Positive changes in bone architecture, density and resilience are evoked by exercises that significantly load the bone and the muscular system. This is what ONERO^TM is all about. ONERO^TM is a program developed by Dr. Belinda Beck, a Professor at the Bone Clinic in Australia. Dr. Beck knew that even as we age, bone is responsive to exercise, and the basic principles of building bone are the same over a lifetime. Bone bends when you load it, and lightweight exercise doesn’t bend it much, whereas heavier weights do. That’s because although bone appears solid, it contains tiny holes that are connected via channels. When a bone bends, the fluid in the channels moves from the compressed side of the bone to the other side and pushes past the osteocytes-the stress sensors-and fires them up. This sends a signal to the osteoblasts to build more bone, says Beck. This “very cool sensing system in the bone” is also the mechanism by which a broken bone heals. In those with low bone density, the key is ensuring that the loading is heavy enough to build bone slowly over time, but not so heavy that it breaks bones.”  Challenging the norms of who lifts heavy in 2013, Beck began a new study to measure the benefits of high-intensity resistance and impact training, “which is what I knew bone needed to adapt.” Beck’s group recruited 101 people over age 65 with low to very-low bone mass; almost half diagnosed with osteoporosis based on their DXA scan scores. The randomized control trial included two groups: one did low-intensity supervised exercise (a protocol currently recommended by most doctors), the other group did heavier, supervised weightlifting. From prior studies, they knew that the bone remineralization takes at least 8 months, the length of the study. The results showed that those in the heavy-weightlifting group had significant increases in the density of the bones in their spines, while the low-intensity program participants continued to lose bone, “clearly showing low-intensity doesn’t work to build bone, high intensity does,” says Beck. Kendall Moseley, (Clinical Director for the division of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism at John Hopkins Medicine), who was not a part of Beck’s research, says the study is “very promising.”¹ ONERO^TM offers effective, specific and safe exercises which not only improve bone density but also create resilience by shaping bone architecture and improve overall muscle strength. Patrick Smith is one of the First licensed ONERO^TM providers in the US. Contact us at onero@ev-fitness.com to find out if you are a candidate for the ONERO^TM osteoporosis program.