When we talk about bone health, we often immediately think of calcium, vitamin D, medical examinations, medication, or fracture risk. All these factors can be important and should be assessed by healthcare professionals. However, there is one essential aspect of care that is often overlooked: movement.
Bones are living structures. They adapt, respond to stimulation, and are part of a system that includes muscles, joints, balance, posture, coordination, strength, and confidence. Therefore, taking care of our bones is not just about preventing falls or waiting for fragility to develop. It is also about promoting appropriate movement throughout life.
Bones need movement too.
Bone Health Starts Early, but Remains Important Throughout Life
Bone health is not built exclusively during adulthood. Childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood are important stages for building bone mass. However, this does not mean that nothing can be done after these stages.
Throughout adulthood, physical activity, muscle strength, balance, nutrition, appropriate sun exposure, management of risk factors, and medical follow-up when necessary continue to play an important role.
The 2026 World Osteoporosis Day campaign highlights the importance of lifelong bone health, including regular weight-bearing and muscle-strengthening exercise, adequate nutrition, and healthy lifestyle habits.
Movement, Strength, and Balance
Exercise plays an important role in bone health because bones respond to mechanical loading. However, we are not simply talking about moving for the sake of moving. We are talking about purposeful movement: weight-bearing exercises, muscle strengthening, balance training, coordination, mobility, posture, and functional activities.
The International Osteoporosis Foundation highlights the importance of exercise in maintaining bone health and preventing osteoporosis. Exercise also helps improve muscle tone and balance, both of which are essential for preventing falls.
For people with osteoporosis, osteopenia, a history of fractures, pain, fear of falling, or other clinical conditions, exercise should be adapted to individual needs. The goal is not to apply the same programme to everyone, but to find a safe and progressive way to strengthen the body, improve function, and reduce risks.
Osteoporosis Does Not Mean Stopping
Many people become afraid of moving after receiving an osteoporosis diagnosis. This fear is understandable, particularly when there is a history of falls or fractures. However, completely avoiding physical activity can lead to other risks: loss of strength, poorer balance, increased insecurity, reduced mobility, greater dependence, and lower confidence.
The Too Fit To Fracture recommendations, developed by an international expert panel, support exercise for older adults with osteoporosis or vertebral fractures, with adaptations based on each person's characteristics and individual risk.
Similarly, the British consensus statement Strong, Steady and Straight recommends resistance and impact exercises to optimise bone strength, strength and balance activities to reduce falls, and spinal extension exercises to improve posture in people with osteoporosis, always taking individual safety and appropriate adaptations into account.
Strength Is Not Just for Athletes
Strength is often associated with sport, performance, or the gym. But in everyday life, strength means being able to get up from a chair, climb stairs, carry shopping bags, play with a child, walk safely, recover from surgery, return to work, prevent falls, or maintain independence.
Strength matters at every age. For children, it is part of growth and exploring movement. For young people, it supports development and sports participation. For adults, it helps meet the demands of work, family, and everyday life.
For women, strength becomes particularly relevant during stages such as menopause, when muscle and bone health deserve additional attention. For older adults, it can be essential for maintaining independence and quality of life.
Strength training does not necessarily mean lifting heavy weights or performing difficult exercises. It can begin with simple, functional movements adapted to each person's abilities.
The Role of Physiotherapy and Clinical Exercise
At Physioclem, bone health care may involve assessing muscle strength, mobility, balance, posture, walking patterns, fear of falling, pain, fracture history, physical activity levels, and individual goals.
Clinical Exercise, Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy, Physiotherapy for Older Adults, Rheumatology Physiotherapy, and Women's Health Physiotherapy may all contribute to this approach, depending on the person's stage of life and clinical condition.
What matters most is that movement is safe, progressive, individualised, and meaningful in everyday life.
A good exercise programme should not simply focus on completing exercises. It should help people move better beyond their sessions: at home, outdoors, at work, on the stairs, in the garden, during walks, and while enjoying the activities they want to continue doing.
Taking Care of Our Bones Means Taking Care of the Life We Want to Live
Bone health should not become a priority only after a fracture or diagnosis. It should be part of a broader approach to prevention, movement, and independence.
Bones need stimulation. Muscles need strength. Balance needs training. And confidence needs to be built.
Taking care of our bones means protecting our ability to keep doing the things that matter: walking, getting up, leaving the house, hugging loved ones, working, playing, exercising, and living with greater confidence and safety.
Bones need movement too. And when movement is properly guided, it can be one of the most important ways to invest in our future health and well-being.
References
World Osteoporosis Day. Get involved: 2026 campaign [Internet]. International Osteoporosis Foundation; 2026 [cited 2026 Sep 28].
International Osteoporosis Foundation. Exercise [Internet].
Giangregorio LM, Papaioannou A, MacIntyre NJ, Ashe MC, Heinonen A, Shipp K, et al. Too Fit To Fracture: exercise recommendations for individuals with osteoporosis or osteoporotic vertebral fracture. Osteoporos Int. 2014;25(3):821–835. doi:10.1007/s00198-013-2523-2.
Brooke-Wavell K, Skelton DA, Barker KL, Clark EM, de Biase S, Arnold S, et al. Strong, steady and straight: UK consensus statement on physical activity and exercise for osteoporosis. Br J Sports Med. 2022;56(15):837–846. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2021-104634.
