Intensive Running and Swimming Do Not Increase Bone Mass
Exercise is important in building strong bones to combat osteoporosis. But a new Mayo Clinic study accentuates that the kind of exercise is critical and that even the right kind, if done too intensely, may not confer any benefit.
The study compared the bone mineral density of a group of female college athletes (21 swimmers and 20 runners) with a similar group of non-athletes. The results, published in the December issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, showed that bone density was not increased in the athletes.
These results were not unexpected for swimmers, because studies have shown that non-weight-bearing activities like swimming do not increase bone mass. In fact, in this study bone density was actually lower in the swimmers than in the non-athletes. In the case of running, which is a weight-bearing activity, the bone-building benefits were negated by the effects of the intensive training routines of the women in the study. The runners, who ran at least 40 miles a week, all had minor menstrual abnormalities and slender builds, both of which adversely affect bone mineral build up.
"For an exercise regimen to achieve bone-building results it must combine weight-training and muscle contraction, such as in gymnastics," says osteoporosis researcher Mehrsheed Sinaki, M.D., of Mayo Clinic's Department of Physical Medicine.
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