Built Bone Power With Rhythmic Gymnastics

Wellness

oi-Suparna Chakaraborthy

By Suparna Chakaraborthy

Thursday, May 6, 2010, 16:34

Everyone is striving for weight loss. Technology to home remedies, people are submitting themselves to everything for the sake of a Roman bod. In all the strive for weight loss what we forget is that bone weight is also important. Your body weight is the result of both fat and bone weight.

Rigorous Gym exercise sometimes leads to a imbalance between your fat quotient and bone weight. This affects the bone geometry. This mostly happens to adolescent girls and they are more exposed to bone risks. Due to menstruation and menopause, girls have a tendency of having low level of calcium in their body. Thus it is very important for them to have a proper bone density and bone geometry.

A study proves that long-term elite rhythmic gymnastics exerts positive effects on volumetric bone density and bone geometry in adolescent girls.

"Previous studies of adolescents have found an association between weight-bearing exercise and increased bone density and bone strength. Our findings show that training in rhythmic gymnastics significantly improves bone health in adolescent girls. Given that osteoporosis traits start in childhood, it is possible to speculate that if girls maintain their gymnastic training beyond adolescence, even if their training is less intensive, they may have a reduced risk of bone fracture later in life," Symeon Tournis.

The study was done on 49 girls between the age 9 to 13. Half of them were elite rhythmic gymnast and half of them were involved in physical-education related activity.

The researchers found that the group which has gymnasts, has better volumetric bone density, bone mineral content and cortical thickness, in comparison to the other group.

"There are a small number of studies that have evaluated the effect of weight-bearing exercise on bone mineral density and bone geometry. However, to our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the effect of long-term elite rhythmic gymnastics on bone geometry using peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT) along with detailed evaluation of bone turnover markers," said Tournis.

The study also says that if in adolescence, a girls takes up the Elite Gymnastic, it will make her bones strong and protect her from osteoporosis during menopause.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for general informational and educational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or a qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.