Strength Training May Be Good for Older Bones

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Strength Training May Be Good for Older Bones

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Strengthening exercises may help healthy

older men and women preserve their bone mass, the results of a small

study suggest.

Study participants who engaged in 6 months of resistance training

showed greater bone density in the hip area, as well as signs that

their bone metabolism had shifted toward generating more bone than

was being lost.

Dr. R. and Randy W. Braith of the University of Florida

in Gainesville report the findings in the January issue of Medicine &

Science in Sports & Exercise.

The researchers had 62 healthy men and women between the ages of 60

and 83 participate in one of three groups: one that engaged in high-

intensity resistance training; one that went through low-intensity

training; and a ``control'' group that was instructed not to change

their lifestyle habits over the 6-month study.

The exercisers used resistance-training machines to perform various

strengthening exercises, such as leg presses, biceps curls and

abdominal crunches. All exercised under supervision, three times a

week. Those in the high-intensity group exercised against greater

resistance than the low-intensity exercisers did.

At the end of the study, the investigators found that the high-

intensity group made significant bone density gains in the area where

thigh bone meets the hip--an average 2% increase. No other areas they

measured, such as various regions of the spine, showed an increase in

density.

However, the researchers note, low bone density in this thigh-meets-

hip area--called the femoral neck--is a major cause of fractures,

disability and death in the elderly.

And all of the exercisers had increases in blood markers of bone

metabolism that ``favor increased bone mass,'' according to the

report.

It is possible, the authors speculate, that this metabolic change

could precede a boost in bone mass for the exercisers. Those in the

high-intensity group, which showed some evidence of increased bone

density, also had greater increases in these blood markers.

The researchers note that past studies of bone density and various

resistance-training regimens among older adults have yielded

conflicting results.

``It is important to know,'' they point out, ``not only what exercise

intensity is necessary to improve bone mineral density but also which

exercises have the greatest impact.''

In this study, they add, leg presses, overhead presses and certain

back exercises appeared to have the most impact on bone density.

SOURCE: Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise 2002;34:17-23.

Galli

New Haven, CT