Multimodal high-intensity gymnastics induced marked osteogenic impact for postmenopausal women

BACKGROUND: Multimodal training characterized by diverse, large, and novel bone strains improves bone mass, but after menopause the evidence is inconsistent. This intervention evaluated the osteogenic efficacy of multimodal high-intensity gymnastics for postmenopausal women.METHODS: Thirty-three healthy women participated in a 19-week controlled intervention followed by 11-weeks detraining: Group I (N.=21): 3x30 min fully supervised and personalized gymnastics weekly (age 57.1±4.8 yrs; weight 64.5±8.1 kg; BMI 22.9±2.9 kg/m2; VO2max 30.3±3.9 mL/kg/min [mean±SD]). Group C (N.=12): Controls (age 57.9±3.9 yrs; weight 63.9±10.6 kg; BMI 22.7±3.0 kg/m2; VO2max 30.4±4.9 mL/kg/min [mean±SD]). Primary outcomes: lumbar spine (L1-L4) and total proximal femur (TPF) bone mineral density (BMD) (g/cm2) and markers of bone formation (procollagen type-I amino-terminal propeptide [PINP] and osteocalcin [OC] µg/L) and resorption (C-terminal telopeptide of type-I collagen [CTX-I], ng/L).RESULTS: Post-intervention, percent ΔBMD (mean±SEM) were larger for I than C in L1-L4 (0.9±0.5% vs. -1.1±0.8%, P