Effect of a High-Impact Exercise Program on Hip Strength Indices in a Group of Obese Women after Bariatric Surgery

The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of a 12-month high-impact physical training program (descending stairs) on bone health in a group of young obese women who had undergone bariatric surgery (type sleeve). Fifty-two premenopausal women with a body mass index (BMI) > 35 kg/m² (range: 35.06–60.97 kg/m²), aged 19–47 years old were included in this study. Patients were randomized to either exercise group (EG), control group (CG) or observational group (OG). 2 to 3 weeks post-bariatric surgery (BS), EG underwent a 12-month semi-supervised high impact (descending stairs) exercise program, CG performed a 12-month oriental dance activity while the third OG received only standard medical care. Patients were assessed before BS and 12 months post-BS for body composition, bone mineral density (BMD) and femoral neck geometry. Bone parameters were evaluated by DXA. At baseline, there were no significant differences among the three groups in the clinical characteristics and the bone variables. 12 months after the surgery, there were some group*time interactions. The 3 groups showed significantly lower whole body BMD (−1.8; −2.9; −4.2 % respectively for EG; CG and OG). The EG showed a significant increase of the femoral neck BMD (+1.4 %; p < 0.05), the femoral neck cross-sectional area (+4.6 %; p < 0.05), and the femoral neck cross-sectional moment of inertia (+15.7 %; p < 0.01) while all these values decreased significantly in the 2 other groups. The total hip BMD decreased in all groups, but the EG showed less significant total hip variation, and lumbar spine BMD decreased significantly only in the OG. This study mainly shows that the stair descent can be considered as an effective high-impact physical exercise for obese women who have undergone bariatric surgery. This kind of exercise has significant effects in maintaining or reducing the loss of BMD at the femoral neck and the total hip. Finally, since the EG group showed significant increases in femoral neck geometry variables, this study suggests that this kind of training could be efficient at reducing the hip fracture risk.