Evidence library · Bone density

Does yoga affect bone density in menopause? What 4 studies found

Studies of yoga in perimenopausal and postmenopausal women that measured bone density. 2 reported an improvement and 1 found no difference against the comparison group.

  1. A meta-analysis of 11 trials found mind-body exercises like tai chi, yoga, and qigong improved bone density, sleep quality, anxiety, depression, and fatigue in peri- and postmenopausal women.

    Reported an improvementMeta-analysis · 1,005 participants pooled · 2024Midlife womenCited 40 timesPubMed

  2. A meta-analysis of 11 studies of Pilates or yoga in women aged 45 to 78, lasting 12 to 32 weeks, found no significant effect on bone mineral density compared with controls.

    No difference foundMeta-analysis · 591 participants pooled · 32 weeks · 2021PostmenopausalCited 14 timesPubMed

  3. A review of nine studies of yoga in men and postmenopausal women at increased fracture risk found no effect on quality of life, with mixed or unclear effects on other outcomes and some fracture reports.

    Direction not statedSystematic review · 2022PostmenopausalCited 2 timesPubMed

  4. 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 bone density