Dose-response effects of exercise on bone mineral density and content in post-menopausal women

Exercise is one of the most widely used non-pharmacological strategies to prevent bone resorption during menopause. Given the detrimental consequences of bone demineralization, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of prescribing different exercise volumes on bone mineral density and content in previously inactive, post-menopausal women during a 12-month intervention and 1 year after intervention completion. Four hundred post-menopausal women were randomized to either 150 min/wk (MODERATE dose group) or 300 min/wk (HIGH dose group) of aerobic exercise. Total bone mineral density (g/cm² ) and bone mineral content (g) were assessed at baseline, 12 months (end of the intervention) and 24 months (follow-up) using whole body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. At 12 months, mean bone mineral density among women in the HIGH dose group was estimated to be 0.006 g/cm² (95% CI: 0.001-0.010; P = 0.02) higher than that of women randomized to the MODERATE dose group. At 24 months, the mean difference between groups remained statistically significant, indicating higher mean bone mineral density among women in the HIGH dose group (0.007 g/cm² ; 0.001-0.001; P = 0.04). No significant differences between groups were found at any time point for bone mineral content. In an exploratory analysis, women who completed more min/wk of impact exercises had significantly higher mean levels of bone mineral density at 12 months compared to baseline (0.006 g/cm² , 95% CI: 0.006-0.012; P = 0.03). These findings suggest that higher volumes of exercise, especially impact exercise, lead to a smaller decline in total bone mineral density, which may remain following intervention completion.