The Effects of Tennis Training on the Bone Mineral Density of Young Adults

Abstract

The present study was designed to evaluate the effects of tennis training on the bone mineral density of the
lumber of the vertebral column and the femoral neck in both males and females who are still at the stage where
the peak bone mineral density has not yet been reached. Six male and 14 female individuals with an average age
of 21 years old (SD=0.89,1.11 respectively). The mean body mass index for the males was 23.22 (SD=1.17 and for
the females was 21.01 (SD=2.37 The methodology used for the measurement of bone density was that of D.X.A
(Dual X-ray - Absorptiometry) measuring the bone density of the lumber of the vertebral column (L1 – L4) and
the femoral neck. Changes in the above variables before and after the intervention were evaluated with nonparametric tests, separately for the whole study sample as well as individually for each sex. These variables were different in relation to the sexes. More specifically, females showed substantial improvement in the measurements of both body parts studied (each time: p<.01), whereas the males showed improvement only in the bone mineral density of the lumber of the vertebral column ( p<.05). Despite the fact that no increase was observed in the bone mineral density for males in either region, the analysis of the results shows that tennis is able to produce improvement in the bone mineral density. In the discussion, explanations are given on the differences that tennis training presents on the effect of the bone mineral density for both sexes.