High-Impact Sports, Resistance Training Build Bone Density for Men

Young and middle-aged men can help their future bone density by the type of physical activities that choose today, a new study shows.

High impact activities such as playing tennis and basketball help male adolescents have better bone density later in life. Middle-aged men can also improve their bone mass by participating in resistance training or a bone-strengthening program.

Researchers from the University of Missouri say young males who constantly participated in high-impact activities had greater hip and lumbar spine bone mineral density later in life compared to middle-aged men who did not exercise similarly as youths.

The findings come as America’s older population, commonly affected by osteoporosis, is growing rapidly. Osteoporosis weakens bones, putting people at risk for more serious bone loss and fractures.

More than 53 million people in the United States either already have the bone-weakening disease or are at high risk because they have low bone mass. Women and men who have osteoporosis most often break bones in the hip, spine and wrist.

“While osteoporosis is commonly associated with only post-menopausal women, it is, in fact, a serious issue for men as well,” said researcher Pamela Hinton, an associate professor at MU College of Human Environmental Sciences. “Indeed, research has shown that the consequences of osteoporosis can be much worse for men, as they are less likely to be diagnosed and are at a greater mortality risk from fractures that occur as a result of a fall.”

Hinton looked at data that included the physical histories of more than 200 men between the ages of 30 and 65. In her study of factors that help protect against osteoporosis for men, Hinton focused on understanding the connection between “bone-loading exercise during adolescence and young adulthood when the skeleton is still growing and bone mass in middle age,” according to a university news release.

Her research not only showed that high-impact activities can influence bone density during adolescence but that they can also benefit men during adulthood.

“The most important take-away is that if you are healthy, it is never too late to begin high-impact activities or resistance training to improve bone mineral density,” Hinton said. “While activity during skeletal growth is significant, we also saw positive associations between such physical activity and bone density at all ages. So even middle-aged men who spent their teenage years sitting on the couch could see benefits from beginning a bone-strengthening exercise program.”

The study, “Physical activity-associated bone loading during adolescence and young adulthood is positively associated with adult bone mineral density in men,” was published in the American Journal of Men’s Health.

The National Institutes of Health, the University of Missouri Research Board, and the Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology Summer Research Internship provided funds for the study.

Sources: National Institute on Aging, NIH; University of Missouri news release

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