Da. Bemben et al., Musculoskeletal responses to high- and low-intensity resistance training in early postmenopausal women, MED SCI SPT, 32(11), 2000, pp. 1949-1957
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of a high-loa
d (80%, 1-repetition maximum (RM). 8 reps) and a high-repetition (40%, 1-RM
, 16 reps) resistance training protocol on muscular strength and bone miner
al density (BMD) in early postmenopausal, estrogen-deficient women. The 6-m
onth programs were matched initially for training volume (3 sets, 3 d.wk(-1
)) for 12 exercises selected to specifically load the spine and hip. Method
s: Subjects included 25 women (41-60 yr) who were matched by spine BMD then
randomly assigned to either the high-load (HL, N = 10), high-repetition (H
R, N = 7), or control (C, N = 8) groups. Dietary calcium intakes were suppl
emented to similar to 1500 mg.d(-1). Total body, spine, and hip BMD (DXA, L
unar Model DPX-IQ), upper and lower body muscular strength, and biochemical
mai kt rs of bone turnover were measured at baseline and after 6 months of
training. Results: There were no group differences in the baseline measure
s. Both training groups showed similar increases in biceps (20%) and rectus
femoris (28-33%) cross-sectional areas, in lower body strength (similar to
30%) and in hip strength (37-40%). HL showed greater improvements in upper
body strength (HL 25%, HR 16%.). Neither training group experienced signif
icant increases in spine or hip BMD, although the HI, total body BMD tended
to decrease (-1.1% +/- 0.4, P = 0.054) after training. Osteocalcin tended
to increase (P = 0.08) in all groups after training, and the 8 change in os
teocalcin was positively related to % changes in the total hip (r = 0.41, P
= 0.048) and the trochanter (r = 0.42, P = 0.04) BMD. Conclusion: The high
-load and high-repetition resistance training protocols were both effective
in improving muscular strength and size in postmenopausal women, indicatin
g low-intensity resistance training can be beneficial for the muscular fitn
ess in women for whom high-intensity exercise is contraindicated.