According to a new study, women, who do weight bearing exercises in youth, may sustain their bone strength in old age.

The Japanese study, which has been published online in the British Sports Medicine Journal Dec.22 issue, concludes this after inquiring about the adolescence exercise habits of forty-six postmenopausal women who were aged 52 or over currently.

The researchers found that the women, who had been taking part in different weight bearing and low impact exercises like swimming they had higher mineral content in spine as well as in the thigh bone. The other participants of the study had been plying some more high-impact games like volleyball, jumping, running and tennis in their youth. Similarly some didn’t have participated in any sports activity at all.

A bigger external thigh bone area was noticed in those women who were in the weight-bearing group and they were also found more protected from fracture during movements’ pressure like bending.

The authors of the study, from the Suzuka University of Medical Science, suggest that taking part in sports activities in youth helps women to maintain bone strength even after 40 years of their lives.