Powerlifting exercise performance and muscle mass indices and their relationship with bone mineral density

Background: Powerlifting exercises are commonly performed by athletes and recreational trainers for increasing muscle strength. Increased performance for these exercises may promote benefcial outcomes, especially in terms of bone health. The aim of this study was to examine whether powerlifting exercise performance and muscle mass indices are associated with bone mineral density. Methods: Fifty-one males (median age 24.0 years) with resistance training experience (median 5.0 years) performed one-repetition maximum tests for the bench press, squat and deadlift. Muscle mass indices and bone mineral density were assessed via a whole-body dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan. Stronger and weaker participants were directly compared for fat-free mass, lean mass and bone mineral density. Spearman rank-order correlation coefficient analyses were used to determine whether powerlifting exercise performance is related with muscle mass indices and bone mineral density. Results: Stronger participants had greater fat-free mass, appendicular lean mass, and bone density (p<0.01). For all muscle mass indices (e.g., fat-free mass and appendicular lean mass) there were small to strong positive relationships found with bone mineral density (rs=0.28–0.65; p<0.05). Small to strong relationships were found between powerlifting exercise performance and bone mineral density for the majority of regions (rs=0.29–0.65, p<0.05). Powerlifting exercise performance was not related with leg bone mineral density. Conclusion: Focusing on improving powerlifting exercise performance and muscle mass appears to be beneficial for improving bone mineral density in young men. However, since this was a cross-sectional study causality cannot be established.