Does exercise prevent osteoporosis – and what about the risk of injury?
It might seem as though resting and therefore avoiding doing things that might risk breaking a bone would protect your bones. But, actually, the reverse is true in many ways. One of the risk factors for osteoporosis is being very immobile. Spending a lot of time sitting or lying down increases your risk of developing brittle bones. Weight-bearing activity helps strengthen the bones. A weight-bearing activity is walking, for example, but not swimming. Injuries are always a possibility when you move around or exercise. On the other hand, some kinds of activity could actually make you more physically confident and increase your physical stability so that you are less likely to fall. There is no conclusive answer from researchers yet on what the best recipe might be for increasing bone health and minimising the risk of injury. However, this is an area that is still being studied – particularly to identify what can be done to reduce people’s risk of falling. As more definitive answers emerg
