The amount of exercise a person needs to do to gain benefit also relies on their current level of physical activity. However, an already physically active person may need to increase their level of activity even more to gain any bone benefit. It is also important to remember that the impact of exercise on bone density is reversible. When the exercise ceases the bone density returns to pre-exercise levels. Therefore, an exercise program to prevent osteoporosis must be a long term commitment.
Poor compliance is often a major problem in the implementation of an exercise program.
There are several reasons why people do not continue with an exercise program. A common problem is that people become bored with their program and lose motivation. One way of avoiding boredom is to firstly choose types of exercise that are enjoyable and, secondly, to have a variety of different exercises to alternate between. Doing a range of different exercises is sometimes referred to as cross training. A cross training program might involve jogging one day and playing tennis or dancing on another day.