London - Running is better for improving bone strength than exercises that do not put weight on them such as cycling and swimming, a study suggests.
Researchers from the Istituto Ortopedico Galeazzi in Milan compared the levels of hormones of 12 mountain ultramarathon runners before and after a 40 mile race with 12 adults of the same age who did not run the race but did low to moderate exercise.
They found that during the race the runners had falling levels of P1NP, a protein key to bone formation, but afterwards they had higher levels of P1NP than the control group.
Dr Giovbanni Lombardi, lead author of the study, said: “Our findings suggest that those at risk of weaker bones might want to take up running rather than swimming or cycling.”
Daily Mail