Estimating bone mineral content based on different types of muscle strength tests

Abstract The aims of this pilot study were to verify which muscle strength tests better explain bone mineral content (BMC) of the femoral neck and lumbar spine and to develop predictive equations to estimate femoral neck and lumbar spine BMC. Twenty-nine subjects aged 56–76 years old (12 women and 17 men) participated in the study. Femoral neck and lumbar spine BMC was evaluated by Dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Muscle strength measurements included maximal isometric voluntary contractions of knee extensors and flexors, vertical jump, 5-repetition maximum of the leg press (5-RM LP ) and seated leg curl (5-RM LC ), and handgrip strength. Women presented a moderate to strong correlation between femoral neck BMC and 5-RM LP (r = 0.819), 5-RM LC (r = 0.879), knee extensors peak torque (r = 0.699), and handgrip strength (r = 0.663), as well as between lumbar spine BMC and the 5-RM LP test (r = 0.845) and manual grip strength (r = 0.699). For females, the 5-RM LP and 5-RM LC tests most fully explained femoral neck BMC (R 2  = 0.859) and the 5-RM LP test and body mass explained lumbar spine density (R 2  = 0.757) for females. Men did not present correlations between BMC and strength variables. For females, the 5-RM LP and 5-RM LC variables explained the variations of femoral neck BMC, while 5-RM LP and body mass explained lumbar spine BMC. Future studies should evaluate a larger sample size and prioritize the strength tests with a greater predictive capacity.