Bone Mass, bone mineral density and muscle mass in professional golfers

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of long-term professional golf participation on whole body and regional bone mass and density. Dual-energy xray scans were performed in 15 male professional golfers and 18 sedentary subjects, matched for age (mean ± sx =29 ± 1 and 25±1 years), gender, body mass (79 ± 2 and 74 ± 2 kg), height, race and percentage of body fat (20 ± 2 and 21 ± 2%). Results show that long-term professional golf participation is not associated with significant increments in regional or whole body bone mass or density. Neither the lumbar spine nor the femoral neck shows any noticeable enhancement of bone mass in professional golfers compared with control subjects from the same population. The only small effect of professional golf participation on -regional body composition is a 9% increase of the muscle mass in the dominant arm (P < 0.05).