Study finds running strengthens bones

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Adam’s training  journal
When I decided to give snowboarding a try this spring, the results were, not surprisingly, painful.

It requires less space to talk about the parts of my body that weren’t banged up — eyeballs, inner ears, belly button — than those that were. Because after a day and a half on the slopes, I pretty much ached everywhere.

Still, I like to think I might have become the next Shaun “the Flying Tomato” White had I not taken a fall so epic that it must have registered on the Richter scale. As I stared at the lift overhead (why do these sorts of falls always happen directly under lifts?), I determined that I’d most likely cracked a rib. And thus ended the great snowboard experiment of ’09.

Thankfully, I am now recovered. But it was a month before I could take a deep breath without flinching, let alone wrestle with my kids again.

If you accept my self-diagnosis (I never did get an x-ray), this represents the third time since I began distance running that I’ve cracked a bone in a fall. Yet I’d never broken anything prior to taking up the sport.

Is it possible that pounding the pavement is weakening my bones?

Dr. Prescott prescribes
Let me get this straight. As a 41-year-old, you decide to embark on a sport with a bone-shattering reputation even among those half your age. Then, when you have a high-speed man-meets-slope moment, you wonder whether your daily run is actually the culprit behind your rattled ribs?
Puh-leese.

In fact, doctors have long recommended weight-bearing endurance activities to help preserve bone density. A March study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that among such activities, high-impact exercises like running were most effective at strengthening bone.

Studies (including one from the University of Oklahoma ) have shown that cyclists do not experience similar benefits.

In fact, researchers have found that competitive cyclists began with slightly lower bone density than average, then lost bone mass as the season progressed.

While the reasons for this are not readily apparent, researchers suspect that factors such as the absence of weight-bearing impact and loss of calcium through excessive sweating may play a role.

The studies have looked primarily at competitive racers who spend many hours a day on their bikes. Nevertheless, to be safe, recreational cyclists might want to use calcium-enriched sports drinks on long rides and occasionally hit the weight room or jogging path for some cross-training.

As for you, I’d bet a season pass at Alta that running is actually helping to keep your bones strong. If you want to keep them intact, too, leave the snowboarding to your kids.