Making decisions that help your bones grow big and strong is often a priority when you’re a kid. But as you get older—and especially after menopause—maintaining them brings on renewed importance. While eating foods for strong bones is a great start, adding exercises for bone health to your routine helps set you (and your body) up for success.
“Strong bones aren’t just about preventing fractures—they’re essential for staying mobile, independent, and confident in daily life,” says Tina Tang, C.P.T., a personal trainer in Jersey City, NJ. Exercise is one of the best ways to boost, which is why we asked trainers to share the best exercises for bone health.
Meet the experts: Tina Tang, C.P.T., a personal trainer in Jersey City, NJ; Denise Chakoian, a certified fitness trainer and owner of Core Cycle Fitness LaGree in Providence, RI.
Why is exercising for bone health so important in your 50s and beyond? “As you get older, your body breaks down bone faster than it builds new bone. This may cause bones to slowly lose density and become weaker over time. Weaker bones are more likely to fracture,” explains Denise Chakoian, a certified fitness trainer and owner of Core Cycle Fitness LaGree in Providence, RI. “After menopause, bone loss speeds up because estrogen levels drop. Estrogen helps protect bones, so lower levels make bones thin more quickly.” The Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center says that over half of women over 50 have either osteopenia (low bone density) or osteoporosis (weak, brittle bones that increase their risk of fractures).
The good news: According to a 2025 review in Scientific Reports, exercise is an effective strategy for combating bone loss over 50—but the type of exercise you choose does matter.
When it comes to the types of exercise that are best for your bones, the experts we spoke to highlighted three key formats.
Strength-training exercises
“Strength-training is the foundation for maintaining bone density,” says Tang. “When you lift weights, your muscles pull on your bones. That mechanical stress sends signals to bone-building cells (called osteoblasts) to strengthen the bone. The body adapts to what it’s asked to do—when muscles get stronger, bones are prompted to follow.” If you’re strength-training the right way, Chakoian says that you can maintain or even increase your bone density. “It also supports muscle strength, which helps protect bones and reduce injury risk,” she adds.
A 2025 review in the Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research found that strength (or resistance) training three times per week significantly improved bone density. Another study in the journal Bone found additional bone health benefits from high velocity resistance training, which involves a quick contraction and a slow release—so for a squat, that would mean dropping down quickly and then returning to standing much slower.
Strength-training exercises for strong bones
“It’s most effective to focus on foundational movement patterns that load the skeleton well,” says Tang. “These movements apply force through the hips, spine, and upper body—areas most relevant to bone health and fracture prevention.” She recommends the following exercises:
- Squats
- Lunges
- Deadlifts
- Chest presses
- Overhead presses
- Push-ups
- Bent-over rows
- Lat pulldowns
- Planks
Weight-bearing exercises
“Weight-bearing cardio is great for bone health,” says Chakoian. Per the Mayo Clinic, weight-bearing is just the technical term for exercise that’s done standing, with gravity forcing your bones to support your weight. Weight-bearing exercise may help slow bone loss and perhaps even build bone. Like strength-training, research finds that weight-bearing cardio puts good stress on the bones, prompting extra deposits of calcium and increasing the action of osteoblasts.
The best weight-bearing exercises for strong bones
“As with strength training, progression matters more than intensity,” Tang says. “Bones respond best to consistent, gradually increasing challenge, not occasional all-out effort.” Experts recommend these forms of weight-bearing cardio:
- Walking
- Running
- Hiking
- Stair-climbing
- Dancing
High-impact exercises
If you’re physically ready and able to kick your strength-training or weight-bearing cardio up a notch, impact-based movement is an excellent modality to incorporate for strengthening bones. “Activities that involve landing and pushing off the ground—working against gravity—stimulate bone adaptation, particularly in the hips and legs, which are common fracture sites as we age,” explains Tang. “The goal isn’t extreme impact, but appropriate, progressive loading that the body can safely adapt to.” Impact exercises comprise any movement where both feet leave the ground. They also include plyometrics, a high-intensity form of strength-training that focuses on explosive power.
These types of exercises increase the weight and good stress on the bones to help strengthen them faster. Plus, they add that as few as 20 jumps per day can have a positive effect on bone density.
The best high-impact-based movements for strong bones
If you have osteopenia or osteoporosis, severe knee pain, arthritis, or pelvic floor prolapse, it’s best to check with your doctor before incorporating impact exercises into your workout, as the AAOS notes that they may not be advised or could be painful. But if you can give them a try, start with one of these:
- Pogo jumps: “These small, quick, jumps with both feet are a common beginner option,” says Tang. “They focus on controlled takeoffs and landings and can help introduce impact safely.”
- Jump rope: Once you have your pogo jumps down, try adding a rope.
- Side-to-side jumps: Leap off your left foot as far as you can to the right, then switch feet and jump back.
- Squat jumps: Do a regular squat, then add a jump at the top.
- Lateral hops: Jump side to side over an imaginary line, keeping your feet together.
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