Upper and lower limb bone mass accrual in adolescent footballers across a short period of training and competition.

OBJECTIVES

To analyze bone mineral content (BMC) and area bone mineral density (aBMD) accrual in adolescent male footballers who started their first football season.

METHODS

17 athletes (14.8 ± 0.4 years) were monitored across 15 weeks of football training. Participants were evaluated for somatic maturation (HPHV), BMC, and aBMD at three time points: before (M1) and after (M2) a preparatory phase, and at the end of the competitive phase (M3). BMC and aBMD were measured using DXA scans. Participants were divided into groups according to maturation status (circa-PHV and post-PHV), and the amount of accumulated training load (median split).

RESULTS

A significant effect (12.1 g/week, standard error (SE) = 2.6 g/week) was observed for lower limbs BMC across the three time points. There were no significant effects of time for upper limbs BMC. There was a significant effect of time for total body aBMD (0.007, SE = 0.003 g/cm/week) across the three time points. Adolescents at post-PHV had a significant 245.6 g (SE = 56.1 g) higher BMC compared to adolescents at circa-PHV. No significant effects were observed for the accumulated training load.

CONCLUSION

Systematic football training, even during the growth spurt, has a positive impact on adolescent bone markers despite the accumulated training load and maturation.