Rock hard
workouts
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DON’T WALK: Run! There’s no way
of getting around sweat and hard work if you want to build up
bone mass.
Photo: Benedikte Skarvik |
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Physical activity can help reduce women’s
risk of developing osteoporosis. But taking a stroll simply isn’t
enough.
Norwegian women top osteoporosis statistics
in Europe. They are four times more likely to break their hips than
their Italian counterparts, and their risk is double that of American
women.
It is a known fact that being physically
active reduces the risk of developing osteoporosis. The Norwegian
Institute of Public Health recommends 30-minute walks two or three
times a week. The idea is that even moderate physical activity will
help prevent osteoporosis.
INTENSIVE TRAINING
However, NTNU researchers have data that suggests that a
moderate activity level simply isn’t enough to prevent osteoporosis.
Researchers have based their conclusions on data from 1400 women
who are participants in the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT).
“One of the factors we looked into was the
relationship between physical activity and a measurement called
BMD among healthy women aged 20 to 44”, explains Associate Professor
Liv Berit Augestad.
BMD stands for “bone mass density”, and is
a measure of the density of skeletal bone cells. Samples were taken
from the forearm. Physical activity was measured according to frequency,
rate, and intensity of the activity. Unfortunately, the HUNT data
did not include information about the nature of the activities.
“We found that the small group of women who
reported the highest level of physical activity also had the highest
BMD”,Augestad says.
DON’T WALK
– RUN!
Physical activity can involve both weight-bearing exercises
and conditioning. Augestad stresses that we do not know enough yet
to determine which training method gives the best outcome. And we
do not know how often and how intense the training should be.
“But what we do know is that casual walks
and other light forms of physical activity are not sufficient if
you want to prevent osteoporosis. Both intensive aerobic exercise
and weight bearing exercise are good methods”, she says.
She adds that Americans have already realised
the need for a more intensive exercise regime: the CDC (the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention), the American equivalent of
the Norwegian Institute for Public Health, recommends that Americans
include daily physical activity in their lives to reduce the risk
of different diseases, including osteoporosis.
START AT AN
EARLY AGE
The study suggests that the greatest effect of physical activity
on developing a strong and healthy skeleton is achieved between
the ages 15 and 30.
“But physical activity may also help reduce
of the speed of bone cell reduction later in life. Thus it is never
too late to start”,Augestad says.
The study was conducted by Augestad with
Professor Berit Schei, Siri Forsmo, Arnulf Langhammer, and Professor
Dana Flanders.
By Tore Oksholen
Contact: Liv Berit Augestad, Human Movement
Science Programme, NTNU.
Tel: +47 73 59 17 71, Email: livba@svt.ntnu.no
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