Osteoperosis and barbell training

I am an new trainer and I had a client ask about osteoperosis and if the weight on a barbell will collapse a vertebrae in someone with osteoperosis while they are performing squats. I am aware that anytime you get under the barbell there is always a risk of injury but this one may be a bit far fetched.

For someone with established osteoporosis, there is always a risk of fracture. Using that as a justification to un-load the skeleton as much as possible is not only not supported by evidence, but also causes harm by perpetuating/progressing the disease process.

Some pertinent recent evidence:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jbmr.3284/abstract

I was diagnosed with fairly severe osteoporosis in my 30s. Through a combination of getting my subpar vitamin d levels up, quitting smoking and heavy barbell training I now have osteopenia as of my last dexa, a much lesser issue.
My doctor was quite shocked and said “he wished he could tell other people to strength train but they would never listen.”

If I recall correctly from an earlier post, I believe your case was likely due to undiagnosed/untreated hypogonadism. Not that I disagree with you, but your situation is very atypical compared to the “usual” osteoporosis we see out there.

This is true.
However the improvement I made in bone density was prior to any treatment for hypogonadism and I largely attribute this directly to strength training. My bones density stayed the same for the first 8 years and then has steadily increased for the last 3. I can’t “prove” it is from strength training, however it certainly didn’t hurt me in any way. I would also say the increase in my balance would be another positive for people with lower bone density.