Gabriel Lozano-Berges

Soccer helps build strong bones during growth: a systematic review and meta-analysis

AbstractThe aim of this study was to analyze the effects of soccer practice on bone in male and female children and adolescents. MEDLINE, PubMed, SPORTDiscus and Web of Science databases were searched for scientific articles published up to and including October 2016. Twenty-seven studies were included in this systematic review (13 in the meta-analysis). The meta-analysis was performed by using OpenMeta[Analyst] software. It is well documented that soccer practice during childhood provides positive effects on bone mineral content (BMC) and density (BMD) compared to sedentary behaviors and other sports, such as tennis, weightlifting, or swimming. Furthermore, soccer players present higher BMC and BMD in most weight-bearing sites such as the whole body, lumbar spine, hip, and legs. Moreover, bone differences were minimized between groups during prepuberty. Therefore, the maturity status should be considered when evaluating bone. According to meta-analysis results, soccer practice was positively associated with whole-body BMD either in males (mean difference 0.061; 95%CI, 0.042–0.079) or in females (mean difference 0.063; 95%CI, 0.026–0.099). Conclusion: Soccer may be considered a sport that positively affects bone mass during growth. Pubertal soccer players presented increased bone mass compared to controls or other athletes; however, these bone differences are minimized during the prepubertal stage.What is known:• It has been described that childhood and adolescence are important periods for bone mass and structure.• Previous studies have demonstrated that soccer participation improves bone mass in male and female children and adolescents.What is new:• The differences between soccer players and controls are more marked during puberty than prepuberty.• Weight-bearing sites such as lumbar spine, hip, femoral neck, trochanter, intertrochanteric region and both legs are particularly sensitive to soccer actions.

Effects of Whole Body Vibration on Tibia Strength and Structure of Competitive Adolescent Swimmers: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Swimming has no effect on bone mass or structure. Therefore, adolescent swimmers present similar bone strength values when compared to normo‐active controls, and lower values when compared to weight‐bearing athletes. It thus seems necessary to try to improve bone structure and strength of adolescent swimmers through a weight‐bearing intervention in order to reduce the risk of suffering osteoporosis later in life.

Assessing Fat Mass of Adolescent Swimmers Using Anthropometric Equations: A DXA Validation Study

ABSTRACT Purpose: The aim of the present study was to determine which of the published anthropometric equations is the most appropriate to estimate body-fat percentage (BF%) in adolescent swimmers. Method: Eighty-eight swimmers (45 boys, 43 girls) participated in this study. Following the recommendations of the International Society of the Advancement of Kinanthropometry, biceps, triceps, subscapular, iliac-crest, supraspinale, front-thigh, and medial calf skinfold thicknesses were measured. Waist, hip, midthigh, calf, relaxed arm, and arm flexed and tensed girths were also registered. BF% was measured with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) to obtain the reference value. Existing anthropometric equations were applied, and BF% results obtained from anthropometric equations were compared to DXA BF% results with the modified Bland-Altman. Results: The Flavel, Durnin-Rahaman-Siri, and Durnin-Rahaman-Brozek were the only equations that did not demonstrate statistically significant differences when compared with DXA. Conclusion: The present study showed that the best anthropometric equation from existing literature to estimate BF% in swimmers is that proposed by Durnin-Rahaman (independently of applying the Siri or Brozek equation).

Do 6 Months Of Whole Body Vibration Training Improve Bone Mass Acquisition Of Adolescent Swimmers?: 1133 Board #7 June 1, 3: 15 PM - 5: 15 PM.

Whole body vibration (WBV) training has been suggested to be an effective type of training for improving bone mass. PURPOSE: To determine the effects of WBV training on bone mass acquisition in adolescent swimmers. METHODS: Sixty-four swimmers were followed over 8 months. Participants were divided in to two groups: The first group consisted of forty-one swimmers (14.2±1.8 y) who completed a WBV protocol 15 minutes of training 3 days per week during 6 months (WBV training increased each month starting with a peak acceleration of 3.6 g and ending at 11.6 during the last month) while continuing with their habitual water training (VIB). The second group consisted of twenty-three swimmers (15.0±2.2 y) who continued with their regular swimming training (SWI) (both groups performed an average of 10 hours per week of water training). Bone mineral density (BMD) and content (BMC) were measured longitudinally (8 months) by Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry at the whole body, lumbar spine and non-dominant hip. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) for repeated measures x2 (time) were performed to check differences within groups between pre and post intervention and to determine the effects of the intervention on BMD and BMC values adjusting by change in height and subtotal lean, initial age and final Tanner stage and calcium intake. RESULTS: Six months of WBV training had little effect on bone mass, as no differences were found between VIB and SWI for absolute change or percentage change for BMD values. For BMC, VIB presented higher absolute and percentage changes in both trochanter (7% increase in VIB vs. 3% in SWI) and total hip (6% increase in VIB vs. 3% in SWI) than SWI, although there was no group by time interaction. CONCLUSION: WBV training might entail minor benefits to BMC acquisition in adolescent swimmers. A minimum compliance of sixty percent was needed to improve BMC, which in the present study consisted of attending at least 2 of the 3 weekly days of training. Future studies using WBV should try to perform more sessions per week at higher intensities to determine if this type of training could be highly beneficial to bone or if other high-impact trainings might be more suitable to improve bone mass in this population. Supported by the Spanish ‘Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación’ ‘Plan Nacional I+D+i 20082011 (Project DEP DEP2011-29093)