Abstract
Little is known about the influence of high-performance training on the bone quality of the lumbar spine, in particular, the effects on bone mineral density (BMD) in athletes with high weight-bearing demands on the spine. Measurements were therefore performed in internationally top-ranked high-performance athletes of different disciplines (weight lifters, boxers, and endurance-cyclists). The measurements were carried out by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and the results compared with the measurements of 21 age-matched male controls. The BMD of the high-performance weight lifters was greater than that of the controls by 24% (0.252 g/cm2) on the AP view and by 23% (0.200 g/cm2) on the lateral view (P<0.01), while difference in BMD between the boxers and the controls was+17% (0.174 g/cm2) on the AP view and +19% (0.174 g/cm2) on the lateral view. The BMD of the lumbar spine in all endurance cyclists was lower than that in the controls (AP view-10%, 0.105 g/cm2; lateral view-8%, 0.067 g/cm2; P>0.05). The results show that training program stressing axial loads of the skeleton may lead to a significant increase of BMD in the lumbar spine of young individuals. Other authors' findings that the BMD of endurance athletes may decrease are confirmed. Nevertheless the 10% BMD loss of cyclists was surprisingly high.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Allolio B, Lehmann R, Randerath O, Klein K (1991) Epidemiologische Untersuchung mit einem fahrbaren Densitometer. In: Milupa (ed) Osteoporose-Winterschule, Milupa, pp 122–127
Ambrus AP, Böhmer D, Szögy A (1985) Boxsport. In: Pförringer W (ed) Sport-Trauma und Belastung. Thieme, Stuttgart, pp 78–83
Berkman D, Kukla D (1985) Radsport. In: Pförringer W (ed) Sport-Trauma und Belastung. Thieme, Stuttgart, pp 214–224
Bilanin JE, Blanchard MS, Russek-Cohen E (1989) Lower vertebral density in male long distance runners. Med Sci Sports Exerc 21:66–70
Chow R, Harrison JE, Dornan J (1989) Prevention and rehabilitation of osteoporosis program: exercise and osteoporosis. Int J Rehabil Res 12:49–56
Chrischilles E, Shireman T, Wallace R (1994) Costs and health effects of osteoporotic fractures. Bone 15:377–386
Dalsky GP, Stocke KS, Ehsani AA (1988) Weight bearing exercise training and lumbar mineral content in postmenopausal women. Ann Intern Med 108:824–828
Doyle F, Brown J, Lachance C (1970) Relation between bone mass and muscle weight. Lancet 21:391–393
Felsenberg D, Kalender W, Rüegsegger P (1993) Osteodensitometrische Untersuchungsverfahren. Osteologie 2: 123–138
Fiedler H (1971) Die allgemeine körperliche Vorbereitung des Boxanfängers. Sportverlag, Berlin, pp 14–25
Finkelstein JS, Cleary RL, Butler JP, Antonelli R, Mitlak BH, Deraska DJ, Zamora-Quezada JC, Neer RM (1994) A comparison of lateral versus anterior-posterior spine dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 78:724–730
Granhed H, Ragnar J, Hansson T (1986) The loads on the lumbar spine during extreme weight lifiting. Spine 12:146–149
Hackney AC, Sinning W, Bruot BC (1988) Reproductive hormonal profiles of endurance-trained and untrained males. Med Sci Sports Exerc 20:60–65
Hahn TJ (1978) Corticosteroid-induced osteopenia. Arch Intern Med 138:882–885
Halioua L, Anderson JJ (1990) Age and anthropometric determinants of radial bone mass in premenopausal Caucasian women: a cross-sectional study. Osteoporos Int 1:50–55
Holbrook TL, Barret-Connor E (1993) The association of lifetime and weight control patterns with bone mineral density in adult community. Bone Miner 20:141–149
Jakobson PC, Beaver W, Grub SA, Taft TN, Talmadge RV (1984) Bone density in women: college athletes and older athletic women. J Orthop Res 2: 328–332
Kalender W (1991) Abschätzung der effectiven Dosis bei Knochendichtemessungen mit Photoabsorptionsmessungen und CT. Fortschr Röntgenstr 155:2
Karlsson MK, Johnell O, Obrant KJ (1993) Bone mineral density in weight lifters. Calcif Tissue Int 52:212–215
Konopka P (1981) Trainingsplan Radsport. BLV, Munich, pp 132–143
Luger A, Deuster PA, Kyle SB (1987) Acute hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal response to the stress of treadmill exercise. N Engl J Med 316:1309–1315
MacConnie SE, Barkan A, Lampman RM, Schork MA, Beitins IZ (1987) Decreased hypothalamic-gonadotropin releasing hormone secretion in male marathon runners. N Engl J Med 315: 411–417
Marcus R, Cann C, Madvig P, Minkoff J, Goodhard M, Bayer M, Martin M, Gaudiani L, Haskaell W, Genant H (1985) Menstrual function and bone mass in elite women long distance runners. Ann Intern Med 102:158–163
Micozzi MS, Albanes D, Jones Y, Chumla WC (1986) Correlation of body mass indices with weight, stature and body composition in men and women in NHANES I and II. Am J Clin Nutr 44:725–731
Pirnay F, Bodeux M, Crielaard JM, Franchimont P (1987) Bone mineral content and physical activity. Int J Sports Med 8:331–335
Pruitt LA, Jackson RD, Bartels RL, Lehnhard HJ (1992) Weight-training effects in bone mineral density in early postmenopausal women. J Bone Miner Res 7:179–185
Rupich RC, Griffin MG, Pacifici R, Avioli RV, Susman N (1992) Lateral dual-energy-radiography: artefact error from rib and pelvic bone. J Bone Miner Res 7:97–101
Schapira D (1988) Physical exercise in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. J R Soc Med 81:641–643
Schmitt WM, Schnabel A, Kindermann W (1983) Hormonal responses to marathon running in children and adolescents. Int J Sports Med 4:68–70
Seemann E, Melton LJ, O'Fallon WM, Riggs BL (1983) Risk factors of spinal osteoporosis in men. Am J Med 75: 977–983
Slosman DO, Rizzoli R, Donath A, Bonjour J (1990) Vertebral bone mineral density measured laterally by dual-X-ray-absorptiometry. Osteoporos Int 1:23–29
Virvidakis K, Georgiou E, Korkotsidis A, Ntalles K, Proukalis C (1990) Bone mineral content of junior competitive weight lifters. Int J Sports Med 250:291–296
Wheeler GD, Wall SR, Belcastro AN, Cumming D (1984) Reduced serum testosterone and prolactine levels in male distance runners. J Am Med Assoc 252:514–516
Wurster KG, Zwirner M, Keller E, Schindler AE, Schrode M, Heikamp H (1983) Discipline specific differences in the response of pituitary, gonadal and adrenal hormones to maximal physical exercise in female top athletes (abstract). Proceedings. Sports and health, Maastricht, 22–24 October 1983
Ziegler R (1991) Osteoporose beim Teenager und beim Twen-ein neues Krankheitsbild? In: Wurster KG, Weiske RF (eds) Ermüdungsbruch durch Osteoporose. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 1–6
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sabo, D., Bernd, L., Pfeil, J. et al. Bone quality in the lumbar spine in high-performance athletes. Eur Spine J 5, 258–263 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00301329
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00301329