Exercise Plus Calcium Keeps Bones Strong
 (HealthDayNews, 9/29/03)

In the Bone, Estrogen and Strength Training (BEST) study, Timothy Lohman of the University of Arizona, and team, examined how exercise and calcium affected 159 women who were on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and 161 not on HRT.. The researchers divided each of these groups into an exercising and a non-exercising group. The exercisers worked out 3 days a week, doing 20 to 25 minutes of resistance training consisting of leg presses, back extensions, squats, lateral pull-downs, dumbbell presses and seated row, as well as 7 to 10 minutes of weight-bearing cardiovascular activity, like jumping rope or jogging. All subjects took 800 mg of calcium citrate a day. The researchers found that, while bone density increased in more body areas for exercisers who took hormones, bone density in the hip area increased for both groups of exercisers, whether or not they were on HRT.