BEST Book (The BEST Exercise Program for Osteoporsis Prevention)

The Bone Estrogen Strength Training Study
1995 - 2004

The Bone Estrogen Strength Training (BEST) Study was conducted between 1995 and 2001 with funding from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases (National Institutes of Health) and Mission Pharmacal Pharmaceutical Company. BEST set out to determine to investigate how strength training affects changes in bone density in two groups of women: women currently on hormone replacement therapy by the advice of their physicians and those who are not, through the involvement of an interdisciplinary team of researchers in the Departments of Physiology and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Arizona.

The BEST study was completed on 266 healthy, non-smoking, postmenopausal, women, with an average age of 56 years. Approximately half took hormone replacement therapy (HRT) while the other half did not. All the women received calcium citrate supplements that when taken in two doses twice daily, provided 800 mg a day. These women were followed for one year. Bone density was measured at the hip, spine, arm and total body by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and calcium supplementation compliance was monitored regularly through pill counts.

Women were randomized to either a control group or to an exercise group. The women in the exercise group performed supervised aerobic, weightbearing and weightlifting exercises, three times per week in community-based exercise facilities. To encourage and maintain interest in exercise for one year, the women participated in social support programs resulting in a high level of adherence.

Results from the study showed that weight bearing and resistance exercises over a one-year period, combined with Citracal® calcium supplementation, significantly improved bone mineral density at skeletal sites at risk for osteoporotic fractures in postmenopausal women.

The participants in the exercise group had not lifted weight before the study and as a result of the study improved not only their bone density but their strength as well.

The BEST study demonstrated that a combination of adequate calcium intake with increased physical activity through strength training prevents bone loss in women taking or not taking HRT. Ultimately, BEST showed that the key to achieving a goal of improved bone health is in the intensity of the workout and the level of resistance training preformed on a regular weekly schedule.

The BEST study findings led to the development of, The BEST Exercise Program for Osteoporosis Prevention, to provide guidelines for exercise that will make a difference in bone health.

For More Information Contact:
Michele Graves
(520) 626-2639
mgraves@u.arizona.edu

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