Meet Karen. Shes a 62-year-old homemaker from Calgary. Unlike most of my client case study articles, Karen is not a client. But nonetheless, she successfully reversed her osteoporosis following my methodology, that I outline in my book, Osteoporosis Reversal Secrets.
Karen was always very active, but despite that, still fractured a bone while ice skating. A year later, she was diagnosed with osteoporosis.
She didnt want to go on medications, so she bought my book, followed the advice in there, and was able to turn around her osteoporosis.
In this article, well cover:
- Karens life before the diagnosis of osteoporosis.
- What she did to reverse her osteoporosis.
- The results what her T scores were before, and what they are now.
- How her life is different now that she doesnt have osteoporosis anymore.
- What improvements I would have made.
If you want to see her tell her own story, she goes over it in this 8-minute video:
And if you want help reversing your own osteoporosis/osteopenia, we have a special program that combines exercise, nutrition and supplements called the Osteoporosis Reversal Program. Want to see if that program is for you? Just fill out the application form on our home page.
Karens Life Before Osteoporosis
A lot of women are surprised when they get the diagnosis of osteoporosis. After all, they reason, theyre active, and they eat healthy. How could this happen to them?
That was similar to Karens case minus the surprise. She was indeed very active. Shed been running for 30 years, and also enjoyed hiking, biking, downhill skiing and ice skating. She also ate quite healthily.
But to her, the diagnosis of osteoporosis wasnt a surprise, since she had a family history of it.
Because she knew she had the family history, she tried a few things to prevent it, like:
- Taking calcium, magnesium and vitamin D.
- Did weight-bearing exercise just like the doctors recommend.
- Even wore a weighted vest.
and despite that, she fractured a bone, and a year later, was diagnosed with osteoporosis. So none of those best practices did any good. Not surprising to me, because in my book I explain why calcium, vitamin D and weight-bearing exercise dont work.
Not wanting to go on medications, she went on Amazon, to see if there are any books available on reversing osteoporosis without medications. She saw that my book was the highest ranked, and well-referenced with lots of scientific studies, so she bought it, read it, and implemented it.
Exercise, Nutrition and Supplements that Reversed Karens Osteoporosis
The single most important nutrient for osteoporosis is actually not calcium or vitamin D, but protein. Most people with osteoporosis only get about 20-40% of their required protein. So she increased her protein substantially, and started eating lots more meat chicken, turkey, beef and pork.
She also took a supplement with 60 mcg of vitamin K2, as well as type I collagen.
Lastly, for the exercise, she did deadlifts, back extensions, good mornings and others. Those exercises are directly for improving the T scores at the lumbar spine, femoral neck and total hip.
But as I talk about in lots of my articles, the secret sauce of a program isnt the exercises themselves its the progression model.
And Karen implemented beautifully. She would pick a weight that was challenging not easy. She would do several sets of 5 repetitions with it, and over a few workouts, work her way up to 12 reps. Once she hit 12 reps, she didnt continue increasing the repetitions, but rather, added weight, and went back down to 5 reps.
Karens Results
Methods are nice, but bottom-line results are nicer. What were the results of Karens efforts? Extremely impressive.
- She started her deadlifts at a weight so light that her daughters friend made fun of her for. They asked if those weights are for her pinky. She started with only 10 pounds. Over the next 2 years, she worked her way up to 50 pounds. Her daughters friend isnt making fun of her anymore
- Her T scores improved very impressively:
- Before:
- Lumbar spine: -2.6
- Femoral neck: -1.3
- Total hip: -1.9
- 2 years later:
- Lumbar spine: -1.5
- Femoral neck: -1.0
- Total hip: -1.5
- More important than even bone density was her fracture risk. At the time of diagnosis, her fracture risk was moderate. Now its low.
- Before:
How Karens Life is Different Now
Hows Karens life different now that her bones are significantly stronger? Quite substantially.
- She can now enjoy the outdoor activities that she loves without much of a concern of fracturing a bone. Hiking, biking, ice skating, downhill skiing, etc. are no problem.
- Her daughters friend isnt making fun of her anymore
- She helped her daughter move a week ago, which entailed lifting and moving furniture, boxes, etc. Not only did she do a great job, but she didnt even have any muscle soreness afterwards.
All in all, Im very proud of Karens resolve, work ethic and progress.
What I Would Do Differently
Prior to Karen emailing me her progress report, Ive never met her, so I didnt have the opportunity to give personalized advice.
As good as her results were (and make no mistake about it her results are seriously impressive), if either I or one of my team members were working with her one-on-one, we would have done a few things differently:
- We would have progressed her strength exercises a bit faster. To go from 10 pounds to 50 pounds in 2 years is pretty good. But chances are, we could have gotten there in 6-9 months if we were supervising her workouts, and making sure that her technique stayed good at heavier weights.
- We would have incorporated jumping exercises. In her case, right away. But if her T scores were significantly worse, we would have waited 6-9 months to start the jumping exercise progressions.
- We would have had her supplementing with type 1 collagen and/or soy isoflavones.
Regardless, Im very impressed with Karens progress, and cant wait to see how much more progress she makes in the years to come.
If you want help reversing your own osteoporosis/osteopenia, we have a special program that combines exercise, nutrition and supplements called the Osteoporosis Reversal Program. Want to see if that program is for you? Just fill out the application form on our home page.