Cycling and bone health: a systematic review

Olmedillas, Hugo; González-Agüero, Alejandro; Moreno, Luís A.; Casajús, José Antonio; Vicente-Rodríguez, Germán

doi:10.1186/1741-7015-10-168

Cited by 91 publications

(71 citation statements)

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“…For cross-sectional studies we used the same quality assessment tool as Olmedillas et al [19] that grades articles on a scale of 7 points. For longitudinal studies the checklist performed by Tooth et al [20] was used, classifiying articles on a scale composed of 33 items evaluating the study design and the internal validity.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is Bone Tissue Really Affected by Swimming? A Systematic Review

et al. 2013

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BackgroundSwimming, a sport practiced in hypogravity, has sometimes been associated with decreased bone mass.AimThis systematic review aims to summarize and update present knowledge about the effects of swimming on bone mass, structure and metabolism in order to ascertain the effects of this sport on bone tissue.MethodsA literature search was conducted up to April 2013. A total of 64 studies focusing on swimmers bone mass, structure and metabolism met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review.ResultsIt has been generally observed that swimmers present lower bone mineral density than athletes who practise high impact sports and similar values when compared to sedentary controls. However, swimmers have a higher bone turnover than controls resulting in a different structure which in turn results in higher resistance to fracture indexes. Nevertheless, swimming may become highly beneficial regarding bone mass in later stages of life.ConclusionSwimming does not seem to negatively affect bone mass, although it may not be one of the best sports to be practised in order to increase this parameter, due to the hypogravity and lack of impact characteristic of this sport. Most of the studies included in this review showed similar bone mineral density values in swimmers and sedentary controls. However, swimmers present a higher bone turnover than sedentary controls that may result in a stronger structure and consequently in a stronger bone.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is Bone Tissue Really Affected by Swimming? A Systematic Review

et al. 2013

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“…Excursions totalled at 2.7 billion and ranked it 2 nd for number of outings (887.9 million) for ages 6-17 yrs [1]. This presents a positive picture in regards to health promotion, yet there are concerns regarding bone health and excessive time spent in a weight supported position in road cyclists [2]. On the other hand, mountain bikes are the most popular bike ridden in the western world [3].…”

Section: Editorialmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ergonomic Interventions, Health and Injury Prevention during Off-Road Mountain Biking

Macdermid¹

2015

J Ergonomics

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EditorialHalf of all Americans participated in outdoor recreation activities during 2013, of which 16% or 46.6 million (older than 6 yrs) take part in cycling (Road, Mountain bike, or BMX). Excursions totalled at 2.7 billion and ranked it 2 nd for number of outings (887.9 million) for ages 6-17 yrs [1]. This presents a positive picture in regards to health promotion, yet there are concerns regarding bone health and excessive time spent in a weight supported position in road cyclists [2]. On the other hand, mountain bikes are the most popular bike ridden in the western world [3]. This discipline of cycling not only improves cardiovascular health, but also provides an osteogenic effect greater than both road cycling and normal recreational activity [4].However, this sport does come with it's own risk and the overall injury rate is classed as very high, with 16.8 injuries per 1,000 h exposure [5]. While the majority of these injuries are acute, traumatic, and isolated to the minority [3], it is expected that many overuse injuries are not reported. This is supported by data showing 51.4% of participants completing an endurance mountain bike race suffered symptoms of overuse, particularly in the lower back, buttocks, knees and wrists [6]. Similarly, participants exposed to 4h of intense mountain biking suffered benign paroxysmal positional vertigo without any prior symptoms [7].Purportedly, such negative effects are primarily due to the nonpropulsive work demand caused by shock attenuation, a consequence of negotiating obstacles, and the continuous damping of vibrations. These vibrations are produced via the interaction of tyre surface area with trail surface [8] and are the very same thing that promote the sports osteogenic effect [4]. As such, the vibrations mountain bikers are exposed to are complex in nature, containing many frequencies (generally <50 Hz) in all directions and ranging in amplitude (rms) from 15-20 m·s -1 at the handlebar and 20-30 m·s -1 at the seat post [8].The energy from such oscillating movements must be absorbed or else result in little or no wheel contact, albeit for a very short period of time. Even so, during these small epochs, the transfer of energy from the drive mechanism to the tyre-trail surface interaction cannot occur.In order to negate this negative effect, the bikes mechanical parts and bike rider's soft tissue, absorbs energy in a damping mechanism enabling more efficient forward momentum and thus prevents injury to the axial skeleton. This occurs in the mechanical-biological system, particularly at the point of contact including handlebar-arm; pedalfoot-leg; and saddle-lower back [8]. It is reflected by an increase in upper body muscular work done [9] and likely plays a part in overall decreased economy during off-road compared to road cycling. The continuous nature of which leads to overuse injuries at the joints.Therefore, the challenge for the mountain bike industry is to provide a bicycle that interacts in the most efficient and safe manner with regards to performance and ...

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“…An example of such behaviour is seen in elite cyclists, who combine intensive non-weight-bearing exercise with periods of sedentary time (rest, sleep). These subjects were shown to be at high risk of developing osteoporosis [54]. This concept of low-level background activity has been named the "active couch potato" [53].…”

Section: Benefits Healthy Populationmentioning

confidence: 99%