Does Walking Strengthen Your Bones After Menopause?
Menopause & HormonesArticleWalking is the exercise most women are told to do for their bones. A 2013 review of 10 trials found walking alone didn't change spine bone density, though the hip improved after six months or more. Programs that mixed walking with jogging, stair climbing or strength work did better. Here is what the reviews found and how to build a routine your bones notice.
“Walk for your bones” is the most common advice women get after menopause. Walking is good for plenty of things. For bone density on its own, the evidence is more mixed than the advice.
Walking alone
A 2013 review pooled 10 trials of walking in women around and after menopause.1
| Bone site | Effect of walking |
|---|---|
| Spine | No significant change1 |
| Hip (femoral neck) | Improved when the walking lasted 6 months or longer1 |
| Wrist and whole body | No significant change1 |
So walking may help the hip if you keep it up, but it doesn’t do much for the spine on its own.1
Mixing it up works better
A 2009 review compared different kinds of impact exercise after menopause.2
- Worked at the hip and spine: programs that mixed jogging with walking and stair climbing, and programs that combined impact with strength training.2
- Didn’t work: only high-impact, or only odd-direction impact, with nothing else.2
A 2012 review of 1,632 women who weren’t already active found that walking-type and strength-type exercise produced small gains at the hip and spine, which the authors estimated would cut the 20-year risk of osteoporotic fracture by about 10%.3
The trials varied a lot in design.2 Still, the message is consistent: bones respond best to a mix of impact and load.
Building a bone routine
- Keep walking, and keep it up for months.1
- Add hills, stairs or short jogging stretches if your joints and your clinician allow.2
- Add strength training two or more days a week. See heavy lifting and bone density and weighted vests.
- Know your numbers. See does menopause weaken bones? and T-score vs Z-score.
Try: “I walk 30 minutes most days. My last bone scan showed osteopenia at the spine. What should I add, and is jogging or lifting safe for me?”
My Body Changed. Now What? covers this in Chapter 7, “Same Scale, Different Body,” in sections called “Muscle and Bone” and “Lifting Heavy.” Its Try It approach keeps one change at a time, so the strength work you add gets a fair run before you judge it. See the book.
This article is for general educational purposes only and is not medical advice. It isn't a substitute for diagnosis or treatment from a qualified healthcare professional who knows your health history. If you have osteoporosis, a past spine fracture, balance problems or heart disease, ask your clinician or a physical therapist which impact and lifting exercises are safe for you before starting. Girl Playbook does not endorse any specific product, test, or provider.
Girl Playbook sells this book. It provides education and worksheets, not individualized medical care.
Sources
The research behind this article, in the order it’s cited. How we source our articles.
- Menopause journal, walking review (abstract via PubMed), 2013Effects of walking on the preservation of bone mineral density in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women: a systematic review and meta-analysis (opens in a new tab)abcdef
- British Journal of Sports Medicine (abstract via PubMed), 2009A meta-analysis of impact exercise on postmenopausal bone loss: the case for mixed loading exercise programmes (opens in a new tab)abcde
- BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders (via PubMed Central), 2012Effects of ground and joint reaction force exercise on lumbar spine and femoral neck bone mineral density in postmenopausal women: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (opens in a new tab)↩
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