Martial arts may help with osteoporosis

NIJMEGEN, Netherlands, April 23 (UPI) -- Martial arts may help those with osteoporosis fall more safely, researchers in the Netherlands suggest.

"For obvious safety reasons, this could not be directly assessed using persons with osteoporosis. Therefore, we measured the hip impact forces during the martial arts fall exercises in a group of young adults," Brenda Groen and a team of researchers at the Sint Maartenskliniek in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, said in a statement.

"Based on our results, we believe that fall training would be safe for persons with osteoporosis if they wear hip protectors during the training, perform fall exercises on a thick mattress, and avoid forward fall exercises from a standing position."

The study subjects were taught to turn a fall into a rolling movement via impact-reducing techniques.

"Since martial arts techniques reduce hip impact forces and can be learned by older persons, martial arts fall training may prevent hip fractures among persons with osteoporosis," Groen said.