Specificity of Bone Strength
Posted March 16th, 2007 at 4:00 PM by Jamal Walker
Section: Health & Fitness, Exercise
A study from Wolverhampton University in England shows that exercising to strengthen muscles strengthens the bones on which these same muscles attach.
Bones in the arm that holds the racquet of a professional tennis player are much larger and stronger than the bones in the other arm. The arm bones are bigger, denser and stronger in athletes who whose activities involve upper body strength, such as rugby, rock climbing, kayaking, and weight lifting, while runners were observed to have the lowest arm bone mineral density, even lower than that of the controls.
Leg bone mineral density was highest in rugby players, whose activities included both running and strength training, but when bone density was corrected for body fat, runners had the strongest leg bones. So training is specific. When you strengthen your muscles, you also strengthen the bones on which muscles attach.
Research source:
Modeling elite male athletes’ peripheral bone mass, assessed using regional dual x-ray absorptiometry. Bone, 2003, Vol 32, Iss 1, pp 62-68. AM Nevill, RL Holder, AD Stewart. Nevill AM, Wolverhampton Univ, Sch Sport Performing Arts & Leisure, Walsall Campus, Gorway Rd, Walsall WS1 3BD, W Midlands, ENGLAND
This post is written by Dr. Gabe Mirkin, M.D. and used with permission. Dr. Mirkin is board certified in Sports Medicine and has practiced for over 40 years. He has completed more than 40 marathons and was a talk show host of a nationally-syndicated radio program for about 25 years. For more articles by Dr. Mirkin, please check out: www.DrMirkin.com
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Tags: arm bones, arm muscles, bone mass, bone mineral density, bone strength, leg bones, leg muscles, peripheral bone mass, rugby, runners, tennis
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The Final Sprint
Hi,
my bones are weak too so please let me know what kind of food is required and exercise needs to be done or is there other kind of methods to improve it.
Thanks,
April 7th, 2008 at 4:15 pmHarish