Basketball, Track and Field, Other High-Impact Sports Good for Aging Bones
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Posted on Nov 23, 2009, 6 a.m.
Analysis of male and female athletes who participated at the 2005 National Senior Games (USA) suggests that bone mineral density improves with high-impact sports.
Playing high-impact sports such as basketball, track and field, triathlon, bicycle racing, and volleyball may boost bone mineral density in aging men and women. Vonda Wright, from University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (Pennsylvania, USA), and colleagues studied male and female athletes, ages 50 to 93, who took part in the 2005 National Senior Games (USA). Ultrasound scans showed that those who participated in high-impact sports had better bone mineral density than people who participated in low-impact sports, leading the team to conclude that: “These data imply that high-impact exercise is a vital tool to maintain healthy [bone mineral density] with active aging.”
Daniel Leigey, James Irrgang, Kimberly Francis, Peter Cohen, Vonda Wright. “Participation in High-Impact Sports Predicts Bone Mineral Density in Senior Olympic Athletes.” Sports Health: A Multidisciplinary Approach, November 2009 1:508-513; doi:10.1177/1941738109347979.
