How much effect does bone density have on bone weight?

November 22, 2011 7:18 PM

If you take an adult male with average bone density and put them through 5 years of weight training which will increase their bone density from the weight-bearing exercise, how much more will their skeleton weigh?
posted by dino terror to health & fitness (1 answer total)

This depends on tons of factors including, but not limited to:

1. starting density
2. starting healthiness of bones
3. overall health of individual
4. age
5. level of weight training
6. metabolism
7. diet
8. genetics

thats just the start.

To just quote something I read, to give you perspective of how much you may gain:

In Prescription Alternatives, Professor Earl Mindell and Virginia Hopkins detail these findings: "In a recent study on bone density and exercise, older women who did high-intensity weight training two days per week for a year were able to increase their bone density by one percent, while a control group of women who did not exercise had a bone density decrease of 1.8 to 2.5 percent.

Good luck with your question.
posted by hal_c_on at 11:21 PM on November 22, 2011