Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
For decades, women with low bone density were told not to lift. Then LIFTMOR put 65-year-olds with osteopenia under heavy barbells — and they gained bone with one minor injury across 2,613 supervised sessions. We cover why DXA misses most fractures, the LIFTMOR and MEDEX-OP results (heavy lifting vs Pilates), exercise and falls, and how to actually start.
Part 3 of the Barbell Medicine menopause series. Educational content, not medical advice.
Timestamps
00:00 Bone: where the advice and the data diverge
00:10 The SWAN bone substudy
01:00 How much bone you lose around menopause
01:22 Why DXA misses most fractures (Siris)
02:13 LIFTMOR: lifting heavy with low bone density
03:25 The protocol — 5×5 at 85%
03:48 The safety record: 1 injury / 2,613 sessions
04:15 Predict the result
05:35 The LIFTMOR results: +2.9% vs −1.2%
06:46 EFOPS: 16 years of exercise
07:18 Heavy lifting vs Pilates (MEDEX-OP)
08:29 Is Pilates / yoga / water aerobics enough?
12:25 Exercise and falls
13:06 Clinic: "Should I be deadlifting?"
Resources:
Subscribe to BBM Plus for the full unabridged Direct Line: barbellmedicine.supercast.com
Barbell Medicine coaching and templates: barbellmedicine.com
Signal book pre-order: barbellmedicine.com/shop/learning/signal
Studies cited
• Greendale et al., SWAN bone loss across the FMP, JBMR 2012: doi.org/10.1002/jbmr.534
• Siris et al., undiagnosed low BMD & fractures (NORA), JAMA 2001: doi.org/10.1001/jama.286.22.2815
• Watson et al., LIFTMOR, JBMR 2018: doi.org/10.1002/jbmr.3284
• Kemmler et al., EFOPS 16-year, Menopause 2017: doi.org/10.1097/GME.0000000000000720
• Kistler-Fischbacher et al., MEDEX-OP, JBMR 2021: doi.org/10.1002/jbmr.4334
• Sherrington et al., exercise for preventing falls, Cochrane 2019: doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD012424.pub2
• ACSM Position Stand: Osteoporosis and Exercise, Med Sci Sports Exerc 1995;27(4):i–vii
For decades, women with low bone density were told not to lift. Then LIFTMOR put 65-year-olds with osteopenia under heavy barbells — and they gained bone with one minor injury across 2,613 supervised sessions. We cover why DXA misses most fractures, the LIFTMOR and MEDEX-OP results (heavy lifting vs Pilates), exercise and falls, and how to actually start.
Part 3 of the Barbell Medicine menopause series. Educational content, not medical advice.
Timestamps
00:00 Bone: where the advice and the data diverge
00:10 The SWAN bone substudy
01:00 How much bone you lose around menopause
01:22 Why DXA misses most fractures (Siris)
02:13 LIFTMOR: lifting heavy with low bone density
03:25 The protocol — 5×5 at 85%
03:48 The safety record: 1 injury / 2,613 sessions
04:15 Predict the result
05:35 The LIFTMOR results: +2.9% vs −1.2%
06:46 EFOPS: 16 years of exercise
07:18 Heavy lifting vs Pilates (MEDEX-OP)
08:29 Is Pilates / yoga / water aerobics enough?
12:25 Exercise and falls
13:06 Clinic: "Should I be deadlifting?"
Resources:
Subscribe to BBM Plus for the full unabridged Direct Line: barbellmedicine.supercast.com
Barbell Medicine coaching and templates: barbellmedicine.com
Signal book pre-order: barbellmedicine.com/shop/learning/signal
Studies cited
• Greendale et al., SWAN bone loss across the FMP, JBMR 2012: doi.org/10.1002/jbmr.534
• Siris et al., undiagnosed low BMD & fractures (NORA), JAMA 2001: doi.org/10.1001/jama.286.22.2815
• Watson et al., LIFTMOR, JBMR 2018: doi.org/10.1002/jbmr.3284
• Kemmler et al., EFOPS 16-year, Menopause 2017: doi.org/10.1097/GME.0000000000000720
• Kistler-Fischbacher et al., MEDEX-OP, JBMR 2021: doi.org/10.1002/jbmr.4334
• Sherrington et al., exercise for preventing falls, Cochrane 2019: doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD012424.pub2
• ACSM Position Stand: Osteoporosis and Exercise, Med Sci Sports Exerc 1995;27(4):i–vii
