Analysis of In Vivo Strains in the Tibial Metaphysis of Adult Rats During Voluntary Exercising Protocols

In a recent study [1], unexpected results were observed in the bone response of animals undergoing two different exercise protocols. Rats were trained to jump voluntarily, but one group wore weighted backpacks while the other group did not (body weight only). Surprisingly, both of these exercises produced similar osteogenic responses after 5 weeks of training. The purpose of the current study was to compare in vivo bone strain measurements for animals doing these two types of exercises to see if these data could help explain the unexpected results.