How Strength Training Builds Stronger Bones – and How Massage Therapy Helps You Maintain the Results
Your muscles aren’t the only ones getting stronger when you lift weights—your bones are, too. Strength training sends powerful signals to your skeletal system, encouraging bone tissue to grow thicker and more resilient. This hidden benefit supports balance, stability, and confidence in every movement you make.
So let’s explore how strength training impacts your bone density and how massage therapy, particularly the four-step treatment protocol we offer, can help maintain and enhance those benefits.
The Science Behind Strength Training and Bone Density
When you put stress on osseous tissue through resistance exercises such weight lifting, bodyweight movements, or using resistance bands, your bones adapt by becoming stronger and more dense. This process is called bone remodeling.
With strength training, muscles pull on your bones and stimulate specialized cells known as osteoblasts to build new bone tissue. With time, this will lead to increased bone mineral density, reducing the risk for fractures or developing osteoporosis.
On a consistent basis, strength training has been shown to:
- Enhance balance and coordination, reducing the risk of falling.
- Slow bone loss attributed to the aging process.
- Strengthen joints and connective tissue that support bone health.
Your results, however, will only last if your muscles and joints are functioning at their best. This is where massage therapy comes into the picture.
How Massage Therapy Supports Bone Health and Strength Training
At Moyer Total Wellness, we have a four-step massage therapy protocol that complements your strength training and helps you maintain long term results:
1. Remove Knots from Tight Muscles
If overworked, muscles can become tense and can develop adhesions in response to strength training. Loosening the knots will improve circulation, and the oxygenated blood will nourish bone and muscular tissues more efficiently. Adequate amounts of oxygen and nutrients are necessary for bone recovery and remodeling.
2. Lengthen Shortened Muscle Fibers
Repetitive lifting can lead to shortened muscle fibers that pull on the joints and alter posture. Lengthening the fibers helps maintain ideal postural alignment, ensuring that physical stress during exercise is distributed evenly throughout the musculoskeletal system as opposed to just concentrated in one area.
3. Strengthen Weak Muscles
Unless accompanied by assisted stretching, massage therapy alone doesn’t generally involve strengthening exercises. However, it does enhance strength training by identifying and addressing muscular imbalances. By removing knots from overactive muscles, we make it easier for underworked and weaker ones to engage correctly, which improves form and stability — both of which are crucial for safely executing bone-building workouts.
4. Mobilize Restricted Joints
A healthy joint can move fully through each lift or motion during strength training. Should a joint be restricted, the body will overcompensate with poor mechanics that reduce workout efficiency and increase the risk of injury. Joint mobilization helps to restore natural range of motion so you can train with improved alignment and balance.
The Synergy Between Massage and Strength Training
When you add massage therapy to a consistent strength training regimen, your body becomes the perfect environment for healthy bones. Building strength means building bone density and stability, massage therapy aims to maintain mobility and recovery. Combined, the two will keep your body resilient and balanced.
Schedule an appointment with one of our talented massage therapists today! Keep your bones and muscles strong!
Katrina Jenkins
Author, Licensed Massage Therapist
Katrina Jenkins graduated from Towson University in 2013 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Health Science and worked as a nurse’s aide briefly before pursuing her true passion. She graduated from the Massage Therapy Institute of Colorado in April 2016 with honors and completed the Touch of Healers Scholarship Program the following summer. She has been a part of the Moyer Total Wellness Team since the summer of 2017.
Resources
Harvard Health Publishing. “Strength Training Builds More than Muscles – Harvard Health.” Harvard Health, Harvard Health, 16 Jan. 2024, www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/strength-training-builds-more-than-muscles.
Hellicar, Lauren. “How Does Resistance Training Prevent Osteoporosis?” Www.medicalnewstoday.com, 9 June 2023, www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/how-does-resistance-training-prevent-osteoporosis.
Mayo Clinic Staff. “Strength Training: Get Stronger, Leaner, Healthier.” Mayo Clinic, 29 Apr. 2023, www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness/in-depth/strength-training/art-20046670.
Royal Osteoporosis Society. “Exercise for Bones.” Theros.org.uk, 2020, theros.org.uk/information-and-support/bone-health/exercise-for-bones/.
Photo Credit
Canva by FatCamera