Human study · Exercise · 14 Nov 2026
In 26 adults, stair climbing lined up with more bone metabolic signal where tibial strain was highest
Source: Journal of Bone and Mineral Research
What the research found
A before-and-after imaging study was published online on 14 November 2026. 26 participants had bilateral PET-MRI scans before and after stair ascent and descent. The abstract does not give age or sex. Finite element analysis estimated principal strain in the tibial shaft. Fluoride-18 PET estimated a standardized uptake value as a marker of bone turnover. Both the pre-session uptake and the change in uptake rose with maximum principal strain. The highest-strain region had much higher pre-session uptake and a larger exercise-induced change than the rest of the shaft (estimated marginal means 76.9 and 71.0 percentile versus at or below 61.1 and 57.0, p<0.001). The authors describe a pattern that looked exponential. This is an acute session in humans, not a training plan. DOI 10.1093/jbmr/zjag163. Not medical advice.
Evidence level: Human study. A study in people, but an association isn't proof of cause.
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