Summary
Exercise frequency may be a key factor for successful exercise programs dedicated
to osteoporosis. However, due to the fact that a large amount of elderly subjects
are unwilling to exercise frequently it is important to identify a minimum effective
dose of exercise frequency to impact bone. Thus, participants of the EFOPS-exercise
study, free of medication or diseases affecting bone metabolism during the 12 year
intervention period, were retrospectively structured into two groups according to
their overall exercise frequency (1-< 2 sessions/week: low exercise frequency (LEF-EG),
n = 23 vs. ≥ 2−3.5 sessions/ week: high exercise frequency group (HEFEG), n = 29).
BMD-changes at lumbar spine (LS) and femoral neck (tHip) as assessed by DXA were significantly
more favorable in the HEF-EG compared to the LEF-EG (LS: 1.0 ± 4.8 % vs. −4.5 ± 2.9;
tHip: −4.2 ± 3.7 %, vs. −6.6 ± 3.5 %). No relevant differences were observed between
LEF-EG and a sedentary control group (LS: −4.4 ± 5.2 %, tHip: −6.9 ± 5.0 %). Although
this result might not be generalizable across all exercise types and cohorts, this
study clearly demonstrates the relevance of an exercise frequency of at least 2 sessions
per week to impact bone.
Keywords
Exercise - bone mineral density - minimal effective dose - exercise frequency
