Step Up to Stronger Bones

Researchers say you can help prevent osteoporosis by booking a flight -- a flight of stairs, that is.

Dr. Joan Bassey, of Britain's University of Nottingham Medical School, says stair climbing has a very beneficial impact on bones and muscles. She suggests that climbing up and down stairs may be one of the best and easiest ways to guard against the bone-thinning disease that strikes many women in later life.

Bassey notes that stair climbing sends an average of 20 high-impact jolts through the hip and spine. She advises climbing a flight of stairs five times over the course of each day to rack up 100 jolts, which she says is "plenty to strengthen those bones effectively."

As your fitness improves, she suggests, you may want to challenge yourself by adding ankle weights, which can help build up bone strength even more efficiently.