Volume 20, Issue s1 pp. 1-13

Recreational football as a health promoting activity: a topical review

P. Krustrup

P. Krustrup

Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences, Section of Human Physiology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

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P. Aagaard

P. Aagaard

Institute of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark

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L. Nybo

L. Nybo

Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences, Section of Human Physiology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

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J. Petersen

J. Petersen

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Amager Hospital, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

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M. Mohr

M. Mohr

Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences, Section of Human Physiology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

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J. Bangsbo

J. Bangsbo

Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences, Section of Human Physiology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

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First published: 06 April 2010
Citations: 207
Corresponding author: Peter Krustrup, Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen Muscle Research Centre, The August Krogh Building, Universitetsparken 13, Copenhagen 2100, Denmark. Tel: +45 3532 1624, E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

The present review addresses the physiological demands during recreational football training and the effects on central health variables that influence the risk of life-style diseases of young and middle-aged men. Recent studies have established that recreational football, carried out as small-sided games can be characterized as having a high aerobic component with mean heart rates of 80–85% of maximum heart rate, which is similar to values observed for elite football players. In addition, the training includes multiple high-speed runs, sprints, turns, jumps and tackles, which provide a high impact on muscles and bones. Recreational football training in untrained men results in marked improvements in maximum aerobic power, blood pressure, muscle capillarization and intermittent exercise performance, and those effects are similar to interval training and more pronounced than moderate-intensity continuous running and strength training. Further, recreational football training enhances fat oxidation during exercise and results in a higher fat loss than interval training and strength training, and results in marked muscle hypertrophy and elevates bone mass, more than interval and continuous running. Taken together, recreational football appears to effectively stimulate musculoskeletal, metabolic and cardiovascular adaptations of importance for health and thereby reduces the risk of developing life-style diseases.

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