July 3, 2009

Is bicycling bad for your bones?

"Some of the racers, young men in their 20s, had osteopenia in their spines, a medical condition only one step below full-blown osteoporosis... [M]ost recreational cyclists probably don’t need to worry too much about their bones.... [Elite racers] train for hours at a very high intensity. They sweat a lot. They never go for runs. They don’t usually do much weight-lifting... They’re strange."

Bikers, do some bone-stressing things before your bones decide they aren't needed!

10 comments:

Fred4Pres said...

Well given some of the interblogosphere jihads Charles Johnson has engaged in over intelligent design and evolution, banning people from his site, and general craziness, combined with his love of two wheel human powered transportation, I would conclude too much bicycling could be bad for your brain.

ricpic said...

Bikers and joggers are idiots speeding up the breakdown of their own bodies.

Joe said...

How about the reality that concentration on a single repetitive sport and/or activity causes serious problems (especially if they are fanatics about it)?

traditionalguy said...

Joe has it nailed. Bicycling is a great exercise BUT if it's all you do the lower back muscles get too strong and affect your ordinary walking motion unless you get massage theraphy and walk a lot too.

MadisonMan said...

Misleading Title. Only people who competitively train on their bikes, to the exclusion of just about all else, suffer bone density loss.

rhhardin said...

This turned up today along my (8,000 miles a year) daily bike commute.

Also, four miles earlier, the first flag (that isn't permanent).

Anonymous said...

Two competitive cyclists also are responsible for getting into the most pathetic fistfight in world history.

Peter

Anonymous said...

Addendum: in case you find that bicyclist fistfight video too depressing, here is a vastly better fistfight video. And it's a clothes-torn-off girlfight, which only makes it better.

Peter

Wince said...

Is bicycling bad for your bones?

I've heard that before...

Bicycle Seat Design Can Directly Affect A Man's Sexual Function.

rhhardin said...

Terry made the greatest advance in bicycle seats, designing them with a cut-out for women.

Later branched out into a line of similar but narrower seats for men.