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Sports Bonus: Male Soccer Players Get Bigger, Stronger Bones over the Long Run
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Posted on: 11/30/1999
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You've probably heard that exercise builds healthier bones. But different types of exercise may have different effects on bone size and strength. Marathon runners have been found to have smaller, weaker bones in areas not "loaded" by running, such as the low back. Compared to distance running, soccer ranges in intensity from standing and walking to sprinting and kicking. Women soccer players have been shown to have stronger (more dense) bones than other women who don't play the sport. What about men?
These authors wanted to find out whether adult men who'd started playing soccer before puberty (age 12) had healthier bones than those who didn't do sports. In particular, the authors were interested in the hip, low back, and leg bones. They looked at both the amount and density of bone, thinking that even if the bones weren't particularly dense, they'd be better able to fend off injury if there was more bone tissue.
Thirty-three recreational soccer players were compared to 19 men who didn't do sports. The two groups were about the same age, size, and height, and they had about the same calcium intake. The soccer players trained four to 10 hours a week. They'd been in the sport for about 12 years.
Compared to controls, the soccer players had more lean body mass and less body fat. They also had greater overall bone mass.
Dividing the body into regions, the authors found that soccer players had more bone in every skeletal region than controls except the arms. Soccer players' bones were also more dense, which makes for better bone strength. These findings were especially noteworthy in soccer players' hips and low backs. Soccer players also had greater amounts of bone in their legs. This was mostly because of greater bone density, as well as thickening of bones. There were no differences between soccer players' kicking and nonkicking legs. It may be that kicking doesn't affect the bones, or that the effects are balanced out by the effort it takes to stabilize the standing leg while kicking.
From these results, it looks like men may get an even greater bone boost from playing soccer than women. Starting exercise early in life improves both the amount and density of bone, leading to better skeletal health. These developments may help prevent injury and osteoporosis in the long run, though more research is needed.
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References:
Jose A. L. Calbet et al. High Femoral Bone Mineral Content and Density in Male Football (Soccer) Players. In Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. October 2001. Vol. 33. No. 10. Pp. 1682-1687.
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