SAGE-Hindawi Access to Research Journal of Aging Research Volume 2011, Article ID 379674, 9 pages doi:10.4061/2011/379674 Review Article Aerobic Exercise and Whole-Body Vibration in Offsetting Bone Loss in Older Adults Pei-Yang Liu,1 Kenneth Brummel-Smith,2 and Jasminka Z. Ilich1 1 Department of Nutrition, Food and Exercise Sciences, The Florida State University, 120 Convocation Way, 418 Sandels Building, Tallahassee, FL 32306-1493, USA 2 College of Medicine, The Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4300, USA Correspondence should be addressed to Jasminka Z. Ilich, jilichernst@fsu.edu Received 24 August 2010; Accepted 2 December 2010 Academic Editor: Ben Hurley Copyright © 2011 Pei-Yang Liu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Osteoporosis and its associated fractures are common complications of aging and most strategies to prevent and/or treat bone loss focused on antiresorptive medications. However, aerobic exercise (AEX) and/or whole-body vibration (WBV) might have beneﬁcial eﬀect on bone mass and provide an alternative approach to increase or maintain bone mineral density (BMD) and reduce the risk of fractures. The purpose of this paper was to investigate the potential beneﬁts of AEX and WBV on BMD in older population and discuss the possible mechanisms of action. Several online databases were utilized and based on the available literature the consensus is that both AEX and WBV may increase spine and femoral BMD in older adults. Therefore, AEX and WBV could serve as nonpharmacological and complementary approaches to increasing/maintaining BMD. However, it is uncertain if noted eﬀects could be permanent and further studies are needed to investigate sustainability of either type of the exercise. 1. Introduction Osteoporosis, a disorder characterized by the progressive loss of bone tissue and microarchitectural deterioration, remains a public health problem and reduces the quality of life for the aging population [1]. It has been estimated that with increasing age, bone mineral density (BMD) in women decreases 1-2% per year at the femoral neck and spine (excluding the inﬂuence of corticosteroid use) [2]. To date, the predominant medical strategies to prevent and/or treat postmenopausal bone loss have focused on antiresorptive medications (i.e., bisphosphonates). However, these treatments might be limited due to adverse side eﬀects, questionable compliance, and long-term safety concerns [3]. Simple aerobic exercises (AEX) like walking, jogging, and running could provide an important role in maintaining and/or increasing bone density in women [4]. Therefore, implementing nonpharmacological treatments that have little or no inherent side eﬀects (like exercise), either alone or in combination with pharmaceutical agents, is critical. Although regular AEX may improve bone status and/or maintain bone mass preventing fractures [5], relatively vig- orous aerobic, weight-bearing, or strength training regimens are even more eﬀective [6]. However, in some cases vigorous exercise may increase the risk of injury, particularly in the elderly. Also, compliance to vigorous exercise is likely to be low in the older population. The published studies examining the positive role for AEX in relation to bone mineral density (BMD) are inconclusive. Several controlled intervention studies have shown positive eﬀects on BMD [7], while others have yielded either mixed [8] or negative results [9]. These diﬀerences could be attributed to diﬀerent study populations (young or old adults), the level of intensity tested (low or high), and/or kind of activities (running, jogging, etc.) employed. To narrow down the discussing realm for this review, we focus on the impact of organized aerobic activities performed on treadmill and other gym equipment, as well as running and/or walking, on BMD in older adults. Whole-body vibration (WBV) or vibration training is a relatively new type of exercise in the “Wellness” industry. Previously used for astronauts, WBV has been reported to have the positive eﬀect on BMD, similar to that of AEX in both animal [10, 11] and human [12, 13] studies. Some studies also compared the eﬀect of WBV and resistance