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(HealthScoutNews) -- Bicycling as your only exercise is not a good idea for your bones.

In fact, no exercise might be better than just bicycling, based on a bone density study reported in The Washington Post.

Scottish researchers compared bone density among three groups of males, all about the same age and body size: competitive cyclists, competitive runners and non-exercisers. The runners and cyclists had competed for at least three years and trained for at least four hours a week.

Compared with the non-exercisers, runners had greater bone mineral density in their spines and cyclists had less, say the University of Edinburgh researchers. The report advises young athletes, whose bone density has not yet peaked, not to engage in cycling exclusively, but to include other load-bearing exercises and sports.

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