Sports' Effects On The Skeletal System

Different sporting activities have different effects on the skeletal system. The skeletal system consists of bones and ligaments and is responsible for posture and structural support of your body. Just like muscles, bones must be exercised to remain strong. Generally, high impact sports increase bone density, decrease chances of developing osteoporosis, decrease risk of fracture and help maintain a healthy posture. But too much repetitive impact without recovery can have detrimental effects on your skeleton. There are even some types of sports that can decrease bone density.

High Impact Sports

High impact sports involve a variation of running or sprinting, jumping and pounding with the legs or other parts of the body. Examples of high impact sports include basketball, soccer, football, gymnastics and dancing. The repetitive pounding places a stress on the bones, which causes tiny micro damages to the surface of the bone. These tears stimulate new bone growth to calcify over the micro tears, resulting in a higher bone mineral density. According to Medical News Today, participating in high impact sports while you are young can keep bones stronger as you age, decreasing the risk of developing osteoporosis.

Low Impact Sports

In a study published in "Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise," researchers examined the spinal and femoral bone density of competitive road cyclists compared to a control group. Even though the competitive cyclists had significantly less body weight and more muscle mass, their bone density was significantly lower than their inactive counterparts, indicating that consistent cycling can, in fact, lower bone density. The other sport to be wary of is swimming. These sports are non-weight bearing, therefore the bones get no impact, and consequently no extra growth. Even though cycling and swimming build cardiovascular and muscular endurance, they should not be your only mode of exercise.

Stress Fractures

When high-impact athletes get to the point of constantly exercising without adequate rest time, the bone rebuilding process becomes interrupted and the structure of the bone weakens. According to the Stretching Institute, stress fractures can occur when a repetitive or unnatural stress is placed on the bone, which can happen during increases in intensity, time or frequency of sport participation. You need to allow yourself to rest and recover and implement adequate transitions into higher intensity exercise in order to preserve the density of the bone.

Female Athlete Triad

The female athlete triad is a condition that affects many female athletes who participate in highly competitive sports such as gymnastics, figure skating, running and dancing. The Female Athlete Triad Coalition states that it involves three medical issues that are usually all present at the same time. Under-nourishment due to increased activity and not enough energy intake or because of emphasis on body composition is the first factor. This leads to low body weight and loss of menstrual cycle, the second. These together contribute to the third, a decrease in bone density due to hormonal changes, increasing risk of stress fractures and osteoporosis at a very young age. Proper nutrition and adequate recovery need to be placed on highly competitive female athletes to keep the triad from happening.