CrossFit Bodmin · free resource
In the LIFTMOR trial in Australia, women past menopause with low bone density lifted heavy and did impact work twice a week for eight months. Their spine bone density rose by 2.9% on its starting value; the home exercise group’s fell by 1.2%. Their hip bone density held. In more than 2,600 supervised sessions there was one injury, a mild back strain. This sheet sets out their programme as faithfully as the published papers allow, for women who already lift, to take to a coach.
Where the papers say nothing, we fill the gap from our guide’s coaching rules and label it in a blue box: our coaching, not part of the trial.
| How often | Twice a week, on days that aren’t back to back. About 30 minutes. For 8 months. |
|---|---|
| Month one | Learn the patterns: bodyweight and light versions of the lifts, slow and controlled, then the four movements, light. Page 3 sets it out session by session. |
| Months 2 to 8, every session |
|
| How heavy | About 80 to 85% of the most you can lift once. That is a very heavy load: lift it with a coach’s eye on your technique. |
| Always | Back neutral on every lift. Nothing to failure. |
Set the working weight by reps in the tank rather than testing your max: start month two where all 5 sets of 5 end with three in the tank. When every set reaches 5 with reps still in the tank and every rep looks the same, add the smallest jump next session. Brace before every rep.
Month one: learn the patterns. Bodyweight and light-load versions of the lifts, slow and controlled, then the four movements, light.
Months 2 to 8: heavy. Deadlift, back squat and overhead press, 5 sets of 5 at about 80 to 85% of max, plus jumping chin-ups with drop landings.
Throughout: a coach watching. Every session in the trial was supervised, in small groups.
Women in or after menopause who already deadlift, squat and press with good technique. You know how to brace and how to set up under a bar.
80 to 85% of your max is a very heavy load: lift it with a coach’s eye on your technique. The researchers advise against doing this programme unsupervised, even after months of training, because you can’t check your own technique.
If you have osteoporosis, talk to your GP before lifting heavy.
101 women, average age 65, all more than five years past their last period, with low bone density at the hip or spine (a T-score below −1). They were in good general health and walked without an aid. Some had osteoporosis, and about 10 in each group took medication for it. Some had an old spine fracture: of the 51 women whose spines were imaged, 17 had one at the start. In the lifting group, none had a new spine fracture.
The trial excluded women with any of the following, so it tells us nothing about safety for them. If one applies to you, talk to your GP first.
The researchers call their women relatively healthy, and ask for care, and screening, before using the programme with anyone else.
8 months, twice a week on days that aren’t back to back, about 30 minutes a session. Led by an exercise scientist who was also a physiotherapist, in small groups of up to 8 women per instructor (the trial’s registration says up to 6). Before each session, every woman wrote down any injuries, falls, changes to medication or diet, how she felt, and her muscle soreness on a 10-point scale.
How heavy. The main LIFTMOR paper (2018) gives the target as more than 80 to 85% of one-rep max (the most you can lift once) in its methods, and more than 85% in its summary. The trial’s other papers say 80 to 85%, and a minimum of 80%. Read it as heavy: about 80 to 85% of max, with the weight raised as you get stronger to keep it there.
The build-up. The main paper says the first month was bodyweight and light-load versions of the movements, learning the patterns, and that every woman could do all four movements within 2 months. The trial’s first paper (2015) puts the build-up at the first 2 to 4 weeks, with the weights going up from week four.
| Movement | How the trial describes it |
|---|---|
| Deadlift5 sets of 5, heavy | Shins touching the bar, feet just narrower than shoulder-width, overhand grip with hands shoulder-width. Neutral spine. Stand fully upright with straight arms, without pulling through the arms. Lower by hinging at the hips, the bar sliding down the thighs; bend the knees once it passes them. |
| Back squat5 sets of 5, heavy | Feet shoulder-width, bar across the upper back just above the ridge of the shoulder blades, held firmly. Hips back as if sitting on a chair, until the thighs are parallel with the floor, then stand. |
| Overhead press5 sets of 5, heavy | Olympic bar across the chest at the top of the breastbone, palms facing away. Elbows pointing forward, press to full lockout with the bar directly over the head, then lower to the start. |
| Jumping chin-up with drop landing5 sets of 5, every session from start to finish | Fixed overhead bar, hands shoulder-width, palms facing you. Jump as high as you can while pulling yourself as high as you can. At the top, let go and drop to the floor, landing as heavily as is comfortable. Over the months the landing goes from bent knees towards stiffer legs and a firm, flat-footed landing; impact also rises as you jump higher and the bar goes up. |
All the loaded work keeps the spine neutral: the trial avoided loading the spine while it’s bent forward. The lifting group did no stretching, mobility, balance, machine or extra accessory work.
This is month one of eight. Bone changes take months; four weeks gets you set up, it won’t show on a scan. If you already lift, it will feel easy: the trial used this month to groove the patterns slowly, before any heavy load.
| First session of the week | Second session of the week | |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1The circuit | Session 1: the circuit5 rounds, 1 minute rest between rounds. A light plate: every rep slow and tidy. | Session 2: the circuit5 rounds, same plate. |
| Week 2The circuit | Session 3: the circuit5 rounds. A heavier plate on one movement where every rep looked the same. | Session 4: the circuit5 rounds. One more change, by the same rule. |
| Week 3Light | Session 5: the four movements5 sets of 5 of each, empty bar or training plates. Chin-up drops landing on soft, bent knees. | Session 6: the four movementsSame weights. Slow and controlled. |
| Week 4Heavier | Session 7: the four movementsThe smallest jump on each lift where every rep looked the same. | Session 8: the four movementsThe same rule again. Write your weights in the log: they’re where month two starts. |
From the trial’s week-1 log: 5 reps of each, the plank for 20 seconds, back to back, with a weight plate. That’s one round.
Deadlift, back squat, overhead press, then jumping chin-ups with drop landings, each for 5 sets of 5, as on the trial’s week-5 log, which was still headed “familiarisation” and used training plates. Each rep slow and controlled, spine neutral. Chin-up drops: jump and pull to a comfortable height, and land on soft, bent knees.
The trial gives no week-by-week table for month one, so the split is ours: two weeks of the circuit, then two of the four movements, which fits the 2015 paper’s 2 to 4 weeks and its weights rising from week four. The weight of the plate, the one change at a time and the smallest jump are our guide’s rules. In weeks 3 and 4, finish every set with at least three reps in the tank.
Two sessions a week, on days that aren’t back to back. Both sessions the same. Month two takes you from light to heavy; by the end of it, the trial had every woman doing all four movements with good technique. Months 3 to 8 hold you there, and the weight goes up as you get stronger.
| Movement | Sets and reps | Load |
|---|---|---|
| Warm-up: deadlift | Up to 2 sets of 5, as needed | 50 to 70% of max |
| Deadlift | 5 sets of 5 | About 80 to 85% of max |
| Back squat | 5 sets of 5 | About 80 to 85% of max |
| Overhead press | 5 sets of 5 | About 80 to 85% of max |
| Jumping chin-up with drop landing | 5 sets of 5 | As heavy a landing as is comfortable, building gradually |
How the impact progresses, from the trial. Jump higher and pull higher as you get stronger, raise the bar, and move the landing from soft, bent knees towards stiffer legs and a firm, flat-footed landing. Build it gradually.
After a strain, from the trial. The one injury was a mild low back strain on the last rep of the last deadlift set, in week 28. She missed a week, then the load was built back up to the full prescription over 2 weeks.
Setting the weight. The papers don’t say how the working weight was set. You never need to test your max: the percentages are a rough guide, and the reps you leave in the tank are the tool. Start month two at the weight where all 5 sets of 5 end with three in the tank, and let your coach judge when the weight is heavy enough to count.
Going up. When every set reaches 5 with reps still in the tank and every rep looks the same, add the smallest jump next session: as a rule of thumb, 1 kg on the press, and 2.5 to 5 kg on the squat and deadlift. One change at a time. Never to failure: it adds nothing to strength. (The same research group’s later trial, MEDEX-OP, added 2.5 kg at a time on the squat and deadlift and 1 to 1.5 kg on the press.)
The order. The papers don’t give one. The trial’s warm-up was deadlifts, so we start there.
Warm-up. Beyond the trial’s deadlift sets, a light set or two of the squat and press before their working sets, climbing to the working weight.
Rest. About 2 minutes between heavy sets, as in our 12-week plan, or longer if you need it for every rep to look the same. The papers don’t say how 20 sets fitted in 30 minutes; with this rest, expect a longer session.
The brace, before every rep. Feet set, grip set. Breathe in, low and wide. Gently lift your pelvic floor just before the effort, as if stopping wind and a wee at once: that’s the Knack. Stiffen your middle all the way round. On heavy sets, if you’re experienced and have no symptoms, hold the breath and breathe out at the top. Reset every rep. Leaking, heaviness or doming? Drop the weight and carry on.
Cool-down. The trial describes none for the lifting group. A few minutes of easy walking is plenty.
Before each session, as the trial did, note any injury, fall or change to your medication, and your muscle soreness from 1 to 10. Write the weight for your 5 sets of 5, and the landing for the chin-up drops (soft, firmer, flat-footed).
| Session | Date | Soreness 1 to 10 | Deadlift | Back squat | Overhead press | Chin-up drops | Notes: injury, fall, medication |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · circuit | – | – | – | – | |||
| 2 · circuit | – | – | – | – | |||
| 3 · circuit | – | – | – | – | |||
| 4 · circuit | – | – | – | – | |||
| 5 | |||||||
| 6 | |||||||
| 7 | |||||||
| 8 |
| Month | Deadlift | Back squat | Overhead press | Chin-up drops | Sessions done |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | |||||
| 3 | |||||
| 4 | |||||
| 5 | |||||
| 6 | |||||
| 7 | |||||
| 8 |
In the trial, the women made 92% of their sessions on average, and the average weight they deadlifted rose by 157% of where it started.
Sources. LIFTMOR was run by Watson, Weeks, Beck and colleagues at Griffith University, Australia. This sheet is our own summary of their published methods, in our words; the researchers haven’t reviewed it. A licensed programme grew out of this research, delivered by physiotherapists and exercise physiologists trained in it; this sheet is separate from it. We read the 2018 paper as its author’s manuscript, chapter 5 of Watson’s open thesis, so small wording differences from the journal text are possible.
The split of month one, the plate weights, the reps in the tank, the weight jumps, the order, the warm-up beyond the trial’s deadlift sets, the rest, the brace and the cool-down are our own coaching, from Women’s Strength Training; no trial tested them. This is a general plan, and not medical advice. CrossFit Bodmin · crossfitbodmin.com