Bone Abstracts

To use HRpQCT to investigate the effects of short term but intense exercise on the bone architecture of the distal radius in exercise-naïve women, with the ultimate aim of developing exercise regimes for children that will maximise their peak bone mass.

We have recruited 16 of 20 proposed exercise-naïve women, aged 18–25, for a 12-week exercise study. The exercise consists of supervised hammering of a metal plate, using their dominant arm, 3 days a week for 12 weeks. Each session consists of 40 hammer blows separated by a 10 second rest between each blow. Baseline HRpQCT of both wrists will be compared to scans obtained after the last exercise session (April 2015).

The mean baseline age of participants was 21.4 (±1.165 S.D.) years. The mean baseline BMI was 22.1 (±2.584 S.D.) kg/m². A paired t-test of baseline average bone density, trabecular bone density, compact bone density, trabeculae number, trabecular thickness and cortical thickness showed no significant difference between the right and left radii at baseline (P>0.05). Differences between baseline and post-exercise HRpQCT values will be tested for significance using a dependent t-test. Assessment of least significant change will indicate whether the changes are real or due to inherent variability.

The study will show what effect a relatively short but intense exercise regimen has on bone microarchitecture in exercise-naïve women and will indicate the feasibility of such a study in children and young people.

Disclosure: The authors declared no competing interests.