More than Sports Participation: The Role of Ground Reaction Force, Osteocalcin and Lean Soft Tissue on Bone Density Accrual in Adolescents: ABCD Growth Study

The Impact of Sport-discipline and Sex on Physical Fitness and Bone Markers in Athletes

“…Our data revealed that male subelite athletes have higher values in plasma formation of OC, P1NP and in plasma resorption of CTx compared to female sub-elite athletes. In the literature, it has been well established that prolonged mechanical loading increases bone mass, while brief exercise at low or high intensity does not seem to have an instant measurable impact on bone metabolic turnover in athletes [7], young boys [10], women [2] and old men [16].…”

“…Consequently, the aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the effects of sex and sport-discipline (i. e. endurance vs. power) on physical fitness performance and bone biochemical markers of formation and resorption in young, sub-elite, track and field athletes. We hypothesized that physical bone biochemical markers and fitness performances would be better in sub-elite male athletes compared to sub-elite female athletes related to age and biological characteristics 7 24 25 . In addition, we expected better bone biochemical markers in power compared with endurance athletes due to the higher impact loads power athletes experience in daily training 17 26 .…”

“…Physical inactivity is associated with muscular atrophy and the loss of bone mass and bone mineral density [15]. In general, sedentary people have lower bone mass than physically active individuals; however, the increases in bone mineral density and mass, resulting from either endurance or resistance training, are comparatively low [7]. Various types of exercise (e. g. resistance training, speed and endurance) have different effects on bone mineral density and mass [16,17].…”

“…Under normal conditions, bone resorption and bone formation are coupled to maintain the integrity of calcium homeostasis and maintain the integrity of the skeleton [6,7]. Bone remodeling is orchestrated by local micro-environmental factors, cytokines, growth factors and systemic hormones (e. g. parathyroid hormone, vitamin D, calcitonin, estrogens etc.)…”

“…However, markers of bone turnover were negatively associated with regions of bone mineral density (BMD) [22]. Indeed, levels of bone formation have been shown not to be elevated in athletes and levels of bone turnover may not be predictive of subsequent changes in bone mass in power athletes and endurance athletes [7,16,23]. However, the relationship between aerobic and anaerobic performance with bone biochemical markers of formation and resorption, considering gender differences, in athletes is not well characterized.…”