Bone health in endurance athletes: runners, cyclists, and swimmers

Weight-bearing exercise has been recognized widely to be beneficial for long-term bone health. However inherent differences in bone-loading characteristics and energy expenditure during participation in endurance sports place many endurance athletes at a relative disadvantage with regard to bone hea...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current sports medicine reports 2012-11, Vol.11 (6), p.328-334
Main Authors: Scofield, Kirk L, Hecht, Suzanne
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bicycling - physiology
Bone Density - physiology
Exercise - physiology
Humans
Osteoporosis - diagnosis
Osteoporosis - prevention & control
Osteoporosis - therapy
Risk Factors
Running - physiology
Sports - physiology
Swimming - physiology
Weight-Bearing - physiology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Weight-bearing exercise has been recognized widely to be beneficial for long-term bone health. However inherent differences in bone-loading characteristics and energy expenditure during participation in endurance sports place many endurance athletes at a relative disadvantage with regard to bone health compared with other athletes. Adolescents and adults who participate in endurance sports, such as running, and non-weight-bearing sports, such as biking and swimming, often have lower bone mineral density (BMD) than athletes participating in ball and power sports, and sometimes their BMD is lower than their inactive peers. Low BMD increases the risk of stress and fragility fractures, both while an athlete is actively competing and later in life. This article reviews the variable effects of distance running, cycling, swimming, and triathlons on bone health; the evaluation of stress and fragility fractures; and the diagnosis, management, and prevention of low BMD in endurance athletes.
ISSN:1537-890X
1537-8918
DOI:10.1249/JSR.0b013e3182779193