A High-Intensity Exercise Intervention Improves Older Women Lumbar Spine and Distal Tibia Bone Microstructure and Function: A 20-Week Randomized Controlled Trial

• Main Authors: Joao Pedro Pinho, Arturo Forner-Cordero, Rosa Maria Rodrigues Pereira, Arnaldo Jose Hernandez, Egidio Lima Dorea, Bruno Mezencio, Liliam Takayama, Jackeline Couto Alvarenga, Julio Cerca Serrao, Alberto Carlos Amadio
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 2020-01-01
• Series: IEEE Journal of Translational Engineering in Health and Medicine
• Subjects: Finite element analysis; HR-pQCT; plyometric training; power training; trabecular bone score
• Online Access: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8949746/

Introduction: The effects of ageing on bone can be mitigated with different types of physical training, such as power training. However, stimuli that combine increasing external and internal loads concomitantly may improve bone quality. The goal of this study was to assess the efficacy of a combined power and plyometric training on lumbar spine and distal tibia microstructure and function. Methods: 38 sedentary elderly women between 60 and 70 years were randomly allocated in experimental (N = 21) and control group (N = 17). The effects of the 20-week protocol on lumbar spine microstructure and tibia microstructure and function were assessed by trabecular bone score (TBS), high resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT) and microfinite element analysis. Results: when compared to the effects found in the control group, the experimental group showed significant improvements in lumbar spine TBS (Hedges' g = 0.77); and in distal tibia trabecular thickness (g = 0.82) and trabecular bone mineral density (g=0.63). Conclusion: our findings underscore the effectiveness of the proposed intervention, suggesting it as a new strategy to slow down and even reverse the structural and functional losses in the skeletal system due to ageing.