Why Even Active Women Lose Bone—and How to Build It Back with Belinda Beck, PhD (Episode 274)

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Fitness, Health & Fitness, Medicine

4.9 • 769 Ratings

🗓️ 13 May 2026

⏱️ 78 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Active women are often blindsided by an osteopenia or osteoporosis diagnosis. This week, we explain why—and, more importantly, what to do about it—with Professor Belinda Beck, PhD, investigator on the groundbreaking LIFTMOR trial, which found that high-intensity resistance and impact training was both effective and safe for postmenopausal women with low bone density. This episode is a deep dive into how bone remodeling works and why mechanical loading—especially the right combination of impact exercise and progressive heavy strength training—is essential for building and maintaining bone strength. We also cover peak bone mass, estrogen, menopause, and the foundational role of nutrition, including calcium and vitamin D, in supporting stronger bones for life.

Dr Belinda Beck is a Professor of Exercise Physiology at Griffith University (Gold Coast, QLD) and Director of The Bone Clinic in Brisbane. Her work, primarily related to the effects of mechanical loading on bone, includes a series of clinical trials (the LIFTMOR and MEDEX-OP trials) that changed the way osteoporosis is managed with exercise. In 2015, she established The Bone Clinic, a translational research facility and clinical practice in Brisbane providing the ONERO® exercise program for osteoporosis which has been licensed for delivery around the world. She has been awarded almost $8M in research funding and has published over 150 papers and chapters in the field. She is a Fellow of numerous bone and exercise societies (including ACSM, ASBMR, ESSA and SMA), is on the Board of the Australian and New Zealand Bone and Mineral Society, Sports Medicine Australia, the SOS Fracture Alliance, the International Osteoporosis Foundation Capture the Fracture Governance Committee, and the Healthy Bones AustraliaMedicine and Science Advisory Committee.

Resources:

High-Intensity Resistance and Impact Training Improves Bone Mineral Density and Physical Function in Postmenopausal Women With Osteopenia and Osteoporosis: The LIFTMOR Randomized Controlled Trial here

The Bone Clinic & ONERO® program

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Looking for something fun to do this fall?
0:02.2	Come join me at the Grand Traverse in Duluth, Minnesota on October 3rd.
0:07.4	As part of Feisty's merger with another mother runner, we are hosting a big fun group trail run and hike.
0:14.0	You get to choose which one you want to do.
0:15.9	On the trails surrounding Lake Superior in the fall, it's going to be amazing. You can choose from distances
0:22.8	ranging from 10 to 27 miles. I signed up for the 27-mileer. We'll see what a good decision
0:28.2	that turns out to be. But fortunately, we are also offering a Grand Traverse Training Plan,
0:34.0	which you get Training Peaks daily workouts, a nutrition plan, and a supportive community to call on.
0:40.3	All wrapped up in that. It's going to be an amazing time. Click the link in the show notes,
0:45.0	and let's have an adventure this fall.
0:52.8	You are listening to Hit Play, Not Pause, a feisty menopause podcast for active performance-minded women.
0:59.7	I am your host, Celine Yeager.
1:01.7	Each week, I bring you advice from athletes, scientists, researchers, and other experts to help you feel and perform your best no matter what your hormones are doing.
1:10.2	This show is a
1:11.4	production of Feisty Media. Hello, strong feisty women. I hope you all are well. So I have a great
1:20.0	one for you this week. And I am going to be straight up here at the top. I talk a lot about bone
1:26.9	health on the show. And I talk a lot about jumping and
1:31.3	heavy resistance training and how that's really important to do for bone health on this show.
1:36.7	And honestly, even after five years going on six right now on the show, I still had a lot
1:42.0	of questions about bone and how this all works.
1:45.5	Like if impact is good for bones, why do runners, even if they have their nutrition and
1:50.7	their recovery dialed, why do they still get low bone density issues so often?
	...

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