Evidence library · Balance and falls

Does stretching affect balance and falls in menopause? What 6 studies found

Studies of stretching in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women that measured balance and falls. 5 reported an improvement and 1 found no difference against the comparison group.

  1. A meta-analysis of 10 trials found chair-based exercise improved muscle endurance, flexibility and dynamic balance in postmenopausal women, but not handgrip strength or static balance.

    Reported an improvementMeta-analysis · 509 participants pooled · 2025PostmenopausalCited 1 timesPubMed

  2. Older postmenopausal cancer survivors did tai ji quan, strength training, or stretching twice weekly for 6 months and researchers found no difference in fall incidence between groups.

    No difference foundRandomised trial · 462 women · 26 weeks · 2023PostmenopausalCited 21 timesPubMed

  3. Postmenopausal women with vertebral fractures who did a 6-month home exercise program of stretching, strength training and walking reported better quality of life and balance than controls, with no change in bone density.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 26 weeks · 2003PostmenopausalCited 113 timesPubMed

  4. Middle-aged women with fibromyalgia did core strengthening or stretching exercise twice weekly for four weeks; both groups reported improved symptoms, with no significant difference between groups.

    Reported an improvementRandomised trial · 40 women · 4 weeks · 2021Midlife womenCited 12 timesPubMed

  5. A 6-month adapted exercise program in 44 postmenopausal women with vertebral fractures improved quality of life, fear of falling, balance, gait, and functional exercise capacity compared with controls.

    Reported an improvementControlled trial · 44 women · 26 weeks · 2019PostmenopausalCited 18 timesPubMed

  6. This narrative review summarized medical literature finding that regular exercise in midlife and postmenopausal women is linked with reduced obesity, cancer, dementia, mood symptoms, and osteoporosis.

    Reported an improvementOther · 2015Midlife womenCited 56 timesPubMed

How to read this. Each line is one study, summarised in plain language from its PubMed abstract, with the authors' own sentence underneath on the study page. A count of studies is not a verdict: trials differ in size, length and quality, and a result in one group of women may not hold in another. Nothing here is medical advice.

Summaries are generated, then checked by machine against the abstract they came from; any summary that could not be matched word for word was left out. Our clinical lead is reviewing the summaries topic by topic, and this note will change when that is done. Corpus last refreshed 2026-11-03. Spotted a mistake? Tell us and we will fix the summary or remove the study.

Other exercise types and balance and falls