Abstract
The present study was designed to assess the effect of different types of exercises on the BMD values in female professional atheletes. The case control study was conducted on 59 healthy female atheletes aged between 20 and 30 years who were a member of the country’s national teams in the past three years. They were involved in weight-bearing (soccer and golf) and non-weight bearing (swimming and rowing) exercises. The BMD values of the L1–L4 anteroposterior lumbar spine and femoral subregions were recorded using a DXA bone densitometer and compared to that of a group of age and sex-matched non-athletes. Mean BMD values at all the studied sites were highest among the footballers and lowest among the golf players. Except for the spine, a significant difference between the BMD values at all the studied sites. As for spine, a significant difference was only seen in the BMD values of the footballers and that of golf players. There was no significant difference between the BMD values of the controls and those involved in either weight bearing or non-weight bearing exercises. The considerable difference noted in BMD values at different sites in footballers and golf players’ points out the great influence of weight-bearing exercises on the bone structure. The bones’ response to exercises is site-specific. High-impact weight bearing exercises stressing bones in a variety of directions are more effective in improving BMD values. Athletes involved in non-weight bearing exercises should do certain weight-bearing exercises to strengthen their bones.
Highlights
The present study was designed to assess the effect of different types of exercises on the bone mineral density (BMD) values in female professional atheletes
While certain studies have named reduced bone mineral density as one of the most common complications in adolescents and young women involved in strenuous sports activity, others consider exercising during youth as a non-pharmacological preventive strategy to increase muscle strength and to regulate bone maintenance and stimulate bone formation, all of which would improve balance and subsequently would reduce the overall risk of falls and fractures during middle and later life [5,8,9,10,11,12]. These studies suggest that physical activity can improve the width and the mineral content of bones in girls and adolescent females, if it is initiated before puberty, carried out in volumes and at intensities seen in athletes, and accompanied by adequate caloric and calcium intakes [9]
Subgroup analysis of the data revealed no significant differences between the mean height, BMI and menarche age in women involved in different sports
Summary
The present study was designed to assess the effect of different types of exercises on the BMD values in female professional atheletes. Some of the existing studies have compared the effects of various types of exercises on different athletic populations, suggesting that athletes involved in high-impact sports such as hurdling, volleyball and squash have greater bone density than those involved in lower impact sports including orienteering or skiing [13,19,20,21,22] These studies have linked activities with a relatively high impact component such as jumping alone or in combination with aerobic step exercise to increased BMD values at the hip, adding that high-intensity resistance training can improve BMD values at both hip and spine [19,22,23]. The present study was designed to assess the effect of weight-bearing and non-weight-bearing exercises on the BMD values of a group of female atheletes and to determine whether the exercise-related
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