Related Experiment Videos
Frequency and duration of vigorous physical activity bouts are associated with adolescent boys' bone mineral status:
Jorge Marin-Puyalto1, Jarek Mäestu2, Alba Gómez-Cabello3
1Faculty of Health and Sport Science (FCSD), Department of Physiatry and Nursing, Universidad de Zaragoza, Ronda Misericordia 5, 22001 Huesca, Spain; GENUD (Growth, Exercise, Nutrition and Development) Research Group, Zaragoza, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBEROBN), Spain; Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón (IA2), Zaragoza, Spain; EXERNET red de investigación en ejercicio físico y salud para poblaciones especiales, Spain.
Purpose:
Vigorous physical activity (VPA) has been proven to promote osteogenesis in adolescents; however the specifics of the optimal pattern of frequency and duration of VPA are unknown. The main goal of the present study was to analyze the associations of different length of VPA bouts with bone health.
Methods:
180 healthy male adolescents (11-13 years) had their bone mineral content and density assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scans at the whole body, femoral neck (FN) and lumbar spine and their physical activity measured by an accelerometer during one week.
Results:
VPA was the intensity with the strongest associations with bone mineral parameters especially at the FN. Subjects whose longest VPA bout was 5 min or above had higher FN bone mineral density (BMD) than those who did not complete any 5-min bout and these differences were greater with participants who reached 15 consecutive minutes of VPA (>15': 0.977 ± 0.020 g/cm2; 5'-15': 0.907 ± 0.009 g/cm2; <5': 0.876 ± 0.009 g/cm2; all p < 0.05). When comparing the relevance of VPA bouts and volume of physical activity, the group with low volume and having a VPA bout had better FN BMD compared to the group with high volume but no VPA bout. Additionally, the group with both high volume and VPA bout showed better FN BMD than the rest of the groups.
Conclusions:
VPA may be the most effective activity intensity to improve bone mineral density and content of adolescent boys, with greater benefits if VPA periods either long or frequent.