[The effects of exercise and sports activities on bone and joint morbidities.]

Exercise and sports activities can afford mechanical stimuli to the bone and joint tissues which are required to maintain the tissue properties. Moreover, physical exercise is an important part of the management of bone and joint morbidities such as osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, and low back pain. On the other hand, excessive mechanical load involved in exercise and sports activities can be harmful potentially causing overuse injuries of the musculoskeletal tissues. Especially, safety margin for the amount of acceptable mechanical stress is narrow in the elderly due to preexisting musculoskeletal problems. Preparticipation medical checkup and construction of appropriate exercise program based on the physical assessment are mandatory to prevent overload applied to the bone and joint tissues.