Abstract
Exercise is recommended to enhance bone health but data on the maintenance of the exercise-induced bone benefit is sparse. The purpose of the study was to assess the maintenance of the musculoskeletal benefits obtained in an 18-month intervention of high-impact exercise in premenopausal women (34 former trainees and 31 controls). Physical performance and areal bone mineral density (aBMD, g/cm2) were measured at baseline, after 18 months, and after 5 years. All significant 18-month improvements relative to controls in the trainees’ neuromuscular performance (isometric leg press, and vertical jump with and without additional 10% weight of the body mass) had been lost at the 5-year follow-up. However, since the changes in aBMD in both former trainees and controls by time were similar, the exercise-induced aBMD gain (i.e. the mean statistically significant intergroup differences of 1–3% in favor of the trainees) was maintained at the femoral neck, distal femur, patella, proximal tibia, and calcaneus at the 5-year follow-up. At lumbar spine, the difference was 1.7% at both 18-month and at the 5-year follow-ups but the difference was not statistically significant (NS) in the latter follow-up. At the trochanter and unloaded distal radius, the intergroup aBMD differences were NS at both the 18-month and 5-year follow-ups. In conclusion, the bone sites aBMD increased in response to the 18-month intervention, also demonstrated maintenance of this gain 3.5 years after the intervention. In contrast, the exercise-induced improvements in the neuromuscular performance vanished during the post intervention follow-up. These findings suggest the possibility of long-term bone benefits of high-impact training in women.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Mrs. Virpi Koskue, Mrs. Kirsi Mansikkamäki, and Mrs. Ulla Hakala for expert DXA measurements, and Mrs. Taru Helenius for help in the subject recruitment, and Dr. Saila Kauhanen for assistance with the data processing.
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Kontulainen, S., Heinonen, A., Kannus, P. et al. Former exercisers of an 18-month intervention display residual aBMD benefits compared with control women 3.5 years post-intervention: a follow-up of a randomized controlled high-impact trial. Osteoporos Int 15, 248–251 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-003-1559-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-003-1559-0