Straightforward, evidence-based guidance on building strong bones — and staying safely active if you’re managing osteoporosis or a fracture risk.
The Basics
Why Bone Health Matters
Your bones are living tissue that constantly rebuild themselves. Bone density typically peaks in your late twenties and stays fairly stable through your thirties and forties, then begins to decline gradually with age — more quickly for women in the years after menopause, when falling oestrogen levels speed up bone loss.
Osteoporosis is what happens when this loss goes far enough that bones become fragile and more likely to break. It’s far more common than most people realise — the Royal Osteoporosis Society estimates 3.5 million people in the UK are living with it, and that half of women and one in five men over 50 will break a bone because of it. It’s also often silent, with no symptoms until a fracture happens — which is exactly why staying active matters at every stage: exercise helps build and protect bone density before any diagnosis, and stays just as important, alongside whatever treatment your doctor recommends, afterwards.
The Evidence
Two Types of Exercise Your Bones Need
The Royal Osteoporosis Society recommends combining both — plus balance work to help prevent the falls that cause fractures in the first place.
Impact Exercise
Activities where your feet strike the ground with some force send a signal through your bones to strengthen them. Brisk walking, stair climbing, dancing, jogging and simple heel drops all count — everyday activity adds up just as much as formal exercise.
Strength Exercise
Moving your muscles against resistance — your own body weight, a resistance band, or weights — makes the muscles pull on the bone they’re attached to, which helps keep it strong. Aim to build up to 2–3 sessions a week, working the legs, arms, back and stomach, 20–30 minutes at a time.
Staying Safe
Exercising Safely If You Have Osteoporosis
Most people with osteoporosis can exercise safely and should be encouraged to — the right kind of activity is protective, not risky. A little care with technique and activity choice makes the biggest difference. Here’s what the evidence says, activity by activity.
Safe and genuinely beneficial for most people with osteoporosis, and one of the best ways to protect the bone you have. If you’re new to it, or have had a spinal fracture, get guidance on lifting technique and avoid rapid, weighted, end-of-range bending or twisting through the spine — supervised sessions are worth it while you build confidence.
One of the safest options at any stage, including with osteoporosis or a history of spinal fracture, and it’s genuinely effective at reducing your risk of falling — which matters just as much as bone strength itself, since it’s usually the fall that causes the break.
An enjoyable way to build both impact and strength. If you have vertebral fractures or you’re new to a style, ask your instructor for guidance on technique and pace to begin with.
Genuinely valuable — moderate-impact activity like brisk walking and stair climbing has clear, proven benefit for bone health, and there’s no good evidence that pushing to high-impact activity adds much on top. You don’t need to run to protect your bones.
Exercises that bend the spine forcefully forward — sit-ups, toe touches, and moves like the ‘roll-down’ or ‘curl-up’ in some Pilates classes — put pressure through the front of the spine and are best avoided if you have osteoporosis. Use a ‘hip hinge’ instead: bend forward from the hips with a straight back, the way you’d pick something up safely.
Sports with a high chance of falling, twisting, or a direct blow — contact sports, and racquet or ball sports played competitively — carry a real fracture risk if you have osteoporosis or a fracture history, and generally aren’t recommended without individual advice from a physiotherapist.
Talk to your GP or physiotherapist before starting if you’ve had more than one fracture, a spinal fracture, or a recent break, or if you’re simply unsure — a quick conversation means you can exercise with confidence rather than caution.
Eating for Strong Bones
Exercise is one half of building strong bones — what you eat is the other. Here’s the practical, UK-specific guidance from the Royal Osteoporosis Society and the NHS.
The NHS recommends adults get 700mg of calcium a day. Good sources include milk, cheese and other dairy foods; fortified plant-based milks; leafy greens like kale; bread made with fortified flour; and tinned fish eaten with the bones, such as sardines.
Most adults need 10 micrograms (400 IU) of vitamin D a day. In the UK, your skin can only make vitamin D from sunlight between April and September — and even then, around 10 minutes on your face and arms once or twice a day is enough. From October to March, a daily supplement is recommended for almost everyone, since food alone (oily fish, eggs, red meat, fortified cereals) rarely provides enough on its own.
Protein-rich foods — beans, eggs, fish and meat — are one of the Royal Osteoporosis Society’s four main food groups for bone health, alongside fruit and vegetables, starchy carbohydrates, and dairy and alternatives.
Cutting down on caffeine and cola drinks may benefit your bones, and it’s worth limiting fruit juice and smoothies to around 150ml a day in total. There’s no need to cut any of this out entirely — it’s about quantity, not avoidance.
Aim for six to eight glasses of fluid a day — water, lower-fat milk and sugar-free drinks, including tea and coffee, all count towards this.
This is general dietary information, not personalised medical advice. Speak to your GP or a registered dietitian if you have specific concerns, especially if you’re taking medication for osteoporosis. Source: Royal Osteoporosis Society, Eating well for your bones; NHS, Vitamins and minerals: Calcium.
At StayActive4Life
How Our Classes Fit In
Every one of these is something we already teach — just let your instructor know about your diagnosis so they can adapt where needed.
Strength and Balance
Combines resistance and balance training in exactly the mix the evidence recommends, at a gentle to moderate pace with chair options throughout. Several of our instructors are PSI (Postural Stability Instructor) qualified — trained specifically to adapt exercise for people at higher risk of falls and fracture.
Qigong and Tai Chi for Health & Fall Prevention
Currently running in Hillingdon, with plans to bring it to Ealing. One of the gentlest, safest classes on our timetable, and a genuine falls-prevention tool in its own right.
Zumba Gold & Zumba Gold Toning
A fun, sociable way to build impact and strength through dance. Let your instructor know if you have a diagnosis so they can guide your technique and pace.
Exercise Complements Your Treatment — It Doesn't Replace It
If you’re on medication for osteoporosis, or your fracture risk is high, exercise adds real, proven benefit alongside your treatment — it isn’t a substitute for it. The best outcomes come from combining the two: medical care to manage your bone density, and the kind of regular activity on this page to build the strength, balance and confidence around it.
Before You Start
Talk to your GP or physiotherapist first if you’ve had more than one fracture, a spinal fracture, or a recent break
Tell your instructor about your diagnosis so they can adapt any exercises that aren’t right for you
Avoid sit-ups, toe touches and forward spine-bending moves — use a hip hinge instead
Moderate-impact activity (brisk walking, dancing, stairs) is enough — you don’t need to push to high-impact
Stop and seek medical advice if you feel new or unusual pain
Our Strength and Balance classes are designed to be safe and effective whether you’re being proactive or managing a diagnosis — with an instructor there to guide your technique every step of the way.
