'I Tried OsteoStrong, The Workout Program That's All About Keeping Your Bones Healthy'
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How often do you think about the health of your bones? To be honest, I rarely did until I heard about OsteoStrong, a skeletal-strengthening health center with locations around the world. FYI: You reach peak bone mass in your early 20s, and it starts to decline by your early 40s, according to Osteoporosis International. That is, unless you purposefully do something about it.
Here’s how it works: OsteoStrong uses four pieces of proprietary equipment (picture typical weight machines but without the plate stacks—the equipment uses only your body weight) that load the bones in specific ways and apply targeted forces on the skeleton. This stimulates bone growth as well as strength gain, which can improve posture, agility, and balance. In theory, each machine focuses on different areas of the body to spur measurable bone growth.
Meet the Expert: Gabby Griffin, DPT, CSCS, is an orthopedic and sports physical therapist at Will Power PT in Timonium, Maryland.
You might be thinking, But I strength train, isn’t that enough? It does work in a similar way. Compared to OsteoStrong’s method of pushing a high force for a short period of time, “you can almost get that same impulse through your bones by doing 25 jumping jacks, says Gabby Griffin, DPT, CSCS, an orthopedic and sports physical therapist at Will Power PT in Timonium, Maryland, who is not affiliated with Osteostrong. “Just a little bit of bouncing [plyometrics], that's going to give your bones some good load.”
However, OsteoStrong seemed to require even less time and effort (think: A single all-out hold instead of multiple reps and sets), which was super appealing to me. To see if OsteoStrong is all it cracks up to be, I tried four sessions over the course of a month—here’s my honest review of the concept.
Overview
OsteoStrong’s system is called osteogenic loading, which is the process of stimulating bone growth. The equipment targets different areas of the body, which can enable “growth trigger events” through simulated force pressure. Essentially, users exert brief levels of force to reach osteogenesis, the process that triggers healthy bone tissue growth, sans pain or soreness. The goal is to reach 4.2 multiples of their body weight, since that’s the stimulus required for growth, per research in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.
The Sessions
A certified OsteoStrong trainer guided my warmup on their Vibe Plate, a vibrating machine that activates the central nervous system. On the Plate, they led me through stretches and balance exercises. Then, they walked me through the four-machine circuit.
Each machine measures the amount of force you can pull or push from your body (and bones), and they each work something different: upper body (arms, shoulders, clavicle, and chest), lower body (legs, hips, and lower back), core (abdominal muscles and rib cage), and posture (spine, back, and legs). The screens on each machine provided instant feedback, giving me info about my force exertion, measured both in pounds and multiples of my body weight.
While it felt like I barely moved through a full rep on each machine—the trainers have you do the basic motion and push or pull as hard as you can instead of completing what you might consider, say, a full motion of a chest press, squat press, vertical crunch, and trap bar squat—I used all my might to hit the target level of force on each machine with the trainers’ encouragement.
Once I was done with each machine, the trainer finished the session with more stretching and balance exercises on the Vibe Plate, which kind of felt like a massage for my entire body.
The Cooldown
As part of each session, they offer extra treatments to each member, including Hyperice’s Normatec compression boots that massage your legs, red light therapy that encourages cellular regeneration to help pain and soreness, and the Pulse Electromagnetic Field (PEMF) mat that improves circulation and reduces pain and inflammation. I used all three of these treatments, and they were definitely a nice perk that helped my body cool down and rest after the sessions.
Session Length
I was surprised how short the OsteoStrong sessions were—each visit was a totally reasonable 15 to 20 minutes, rivaling my usual strength training or running sessions, which last between 30 minutes to over an hour. Plus, most days, I left OsteoStrong sessions with muscle power to spare for other activities, and no sore spots.
As for how often to rinse and repeat, OsteoStrong recommends doing the in-studio circuit weekly for optimal bone health and density. Outside of that time, they don't offer programs or guidelines for ways to keep your body healthy in-between sessions. So I continued to do my normal routine of strength and running.
The Cost
OsteoStrong offers monthly memberships between $149-259, as well as single-session drop-in rates at centers across the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Australia. While traditional health insurance doesn’t typically cover sessions, medical savings accounts and HSA flex spending can be used sometimes.
OsteoStrong recommends working with them once a week for 18 months to see improvement in bone density, however, they encourage working with them long term. Otherwise, once you stop sessions, your bone density might continue to decrease, according to OsteoStrong. However, athletes who are looking to up their strength and performance might prefer their one-off or package deals.
Who It’s Best For
OsteoStrong recommends people of all ages do sessions. However, those with chronic pain or osteopenia can benefit most from OsteoStrong. Also, postmenopausal women ages 50 and over are at a higher risk for bone fractures, per research in Endocrinology and Metabolism. So that group is another strong candidate. (To confirm changes in bone density, you can do a DXA scan or blood tests at the doc after six months.)
The bone-strengthening system seems to be a game changer for many of their clients, including Jennifer Glassman, MD, 56, a functional medicine physician. In 2021, after entering menopause, she learned that she had osteopenia and lost almost an inch of height. So, she joined OsteoStrong, which was recommended to her by her physician and colleague, and she's gone every week since. "After one year, I had no further bone loss," she says, adding that "after two years, "my bone density has improved. I feel stronger and happy with my strength.”
Similarly, Maria Hadjidemetriou, 50, was diagnosed with osteoporosis at the age of 30. For the next 15 years, she tried three different types of bisphosponate drugs, which are used to treat osteoporosis. However, none of them improved her DXA score. Although she lives a very healthy lifestyle, working out three or four times a week, she couldn't jump or go down stairs as a result of her chronic pain—that is, until she found OsteoStrong, which her sister and endocrinologist recommended to her. Today, she calls it "the biggest game changer for me for improving my strength and balance." These days, she can jump 30 times and use stairs with confidence and less pain. "My life has improved tremendously," she adds.
However, it’s important to note that not all experts believe OsteoStrong is any more effective than strength training. “Strength training with weight resistance training, giving your bone a lot of different input and a lot of different forces is the best,” says Griffin. Since peak bone mass happens in your 20s and 30s, “it is crucial that people are on a strength/resistance training program in those two decades—whether it is OsteoStrong or a consistent progressive strength training program,” she says.
My Final Takeaways
I had a very positive experience with OsteoStrong and think it’s a great concept. One of the biggest benefits the brand touts is eliminating pain, which intrigued me because I struggle with lower back pain due to a displaced vertebrae injury in my lower spine. While I haven’t felt any soreness or pain as a result of my sessions—compared to some of my usual strength training workouts—I’m also not convinced that it improved my pain in just a month. (I’d probably want to try OsteoStrong for a few more months to see if I could feel a difference there.)
That being said, as a pretty healthy 23-year-old who works out six days a week (including three days of strength training), I’m *probably* not the best candidate to speak to my own bone density (or loss of!) just yet in my life. But I am now motivated to continue keeping bone health at the forefront of my training given the fact that it does decline as we age. And I do think OsteoStrong is a great choice for those who are approaching menopause, especially when combined with exercise, like strength training sessions.
Bottom line: If you experience chronic pain or have osteopenia or osteoporosis, it’s a good idea to try OsteoStrong, especially if you’re approaching menopause. Because the sessions are pricey, make sure that OsteoStrong fits in your lifestyle and is combined with strength training sessions.
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