Tai chi
Also called: tai chi for balance, taichi
What it means
Tai chi is a gentle, slow-motion exercise practice that trains balance, coordination, and body control, and is often recommended to help lower the risk of falling.
Falling, not just weak bones, causes most fractures, so better balance from tai chi may help protect you from fall-related breaks.
Tai chi is a slow, flowing form of movement practice that originated as a martial art and is now widely used to improve balance and reduce stress. Each session involves shifting your weight smoothly between legs, turning, and reaching in different directions while staying upright and controlled. This challenges your balance system in a gentle, low-impact way.
For bone health, tai chi's main value is fall prevention. Since most fractures happen because someone falls, not just because bones are fragile, improving balance matters as much as improving bone density. Many studies suggest tai chi can help lower the risk of falling in older adults, alongside other balance training methods like standing on one leg or practicing sit-to-stand without using your hands.
Some researchers have also explored whether tai chi's stress-reducing effects might relate to bone health in postmenopausal women, but this connection is still not well understood. Tai chi is best thought of as a helpful, low-risk addition to a broader bone-health plan that includes balance, strength, and fall-risk awareness — not a treatment for osteoporosis itself.
How sure is this?
Graded Established Science: Supported by broad scientific consensus and decades of research. Read each study with its grade in mind. One study is a piece of the picture, not the whole of it.
Better balance from tai chi may help protect you from fall-related fractures, since falls cause most breaks.
Where this leads
WordTai chi improves balance and coordination. Wonder how a quick test can actually check your balance and fall risk?
Where the Academy teaches it
This page is the short version. The lessons teach it in full, with the context around it and a quiz to lock it in.
Related words
Balance training is practice that improves your stability and coordination so you're less likely to fall — and falls…
Fall risk is how likely you are to fall, and it matters because falling—not just weak bones—is the most common cause…
Fear of falling is ongoing worry or anxiety about losing your balance and falling, which can make people limit their…
A fall prevention program is a set of exercises and safety steps designed to help you stay steady on your feet and…
The Timed Up and Go (TUG) test times how long it takes someone to stand up from a chair, walk a short distance,…
Stress management means using habits like movement, mindfulness, breathing, social connection, and time in nature to…
Education only, not medical advice. Decisions about tests, medications and treatment belong with your own doctor. OsteoStrong does not diagnose, treat or cure any disease.
