[sfricks]

Dear Dr. Mirkin: Does exercise strengthen bones?

When you strengthen your muscles, you also strengthen
your bones. If youre not exercising, regardless of your age, you
are setting your bones up for osteoporosis. A study from Deakin
University in Melbourne, Australia shows that lifetime sports and
leisure activity participation is associated with greater bone size,
quality and strength in older men. The older men who exercised
regularly when they were younger have stronger, bigger and
tougher bones that are harder to break. (Osteoporosis
International, June 2006).
Weight-bearing exercise in early life helps strengthen
bones for later life, and exercising to strengthen muscles also
strengthens the bones on which these same muscles attach.
Another study showed that professional tennis players bones in
the arm that holds the racquet are much larger and stronger than
the bones in the other arm. The arm bones are bigger, denser
and stronger in athletes who whose activities involve upper body
strength, such as rugby, rock climbing, kayaking, and weight
lifting, while leg bone mineral density was highest in athletes
whose activities included both running and strength training.