Bone health, body composition and physical fitness dose–response effects of 16 weeks of recreational team handball for inactive middle-to-older-aged males – A randomised controlled trial

ABSTRACT

In this study we aimed at analysing the effects of different weekly exercise volumes (1, 2 or 3 times 60-min) on bone health, body composition and physical fitness of inactive middle-to-older-aged males, after 16 weeks of recreational team handball (RTH). Fifty-four men (68 ± 4 years, stature 169 ± 6 cm; body mass 78.4 ± 10.7 kg; fat mass 27.1 ± 5.3%; BMI 27.4 ± 2.9 kg/m²; VO_2peak 27.3 ± 4.8 mL/min/kg) were randomised into three intervention groups (TH1, n = 13; TH2, n = 15; or TH3, n = 12, performing 1, 2 and 3 weekly 60-min training sessions, respectively), and a control group (CG, n = 14). The training sessions consisted mainly of RTH matches played as small-sided and formal game formats (4v4, 5v5, 6v6 or 7v7) with adapted rules. Matches’ mean and peak heart rate (HR) ranged from 78–80% and 86–89%HR_max, respectively, and distance covered from 4676 to 5202 m. A time x group interaction was observed for procollagen type-1 amino-terminal propeptide (P1NP), osteocalcin (OC), carboxy-terminal type-1 collagen crosslinks (CTX), sclerostin, upper and lower body dynamic strength, right arm fat mass, left and right arm, right leg and android total mass (TM; p ≤ 0.047) with the greatest effects being shown for TH2 and TH3 groups. Post-intervention group differences were observed in CTX, left arm and right leg TM (TH3 > TH1), P1NP (TH2 > CG), OC, right arm TM (TH3 > CG), upper (CG < TH1, TH2 and TH3) and lower body dynamic strength (CG < TH1 and TH3) (p ≤ 0.047). RTH was effective in enhancing bone health, body composition and physical fitness in middle-to-older-aged males, especially for the intervention groups that performed 2–3 weekly training sessions.

ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT05295511.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT05295511.

Highlights

• After 16 weeks of recreational team handball small-sided and formal matches, inactive middle-to-older-aged males improved bone health, body composition and physical fitness, by performing 1, 2 or 3 60-min weekly sessions, however, greater improvements were shown in the groups that performed 2 or 3 weekly training sessions.

• Training intensity was similar across the intervention groups that performed recreational team handball for 1, 2 or 3 60-min weekly sessions, which means that training volume is most likely to be the reason for the different health effects shown.

• The very high fun levels reported by all intervention groups shows that recreational team handball is a social and fun exercise modality for middle-to-older-aged males, with potential to intrinsically motivate the participants and assure long-term adherence to exercise.

KEYWORDS:

• aging
• bone health
• musculoskeletal fitness
• team sports

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the participants for their committed participation. We would also like to express our gratitude to the members of the Handball4Health project, and the students from the University of Maia and the Faculty of Sport, University of Porto, who collaborated in the data collection and provided technical assistance. IC (SFRH/BD/144132/2019) and RP (SFRH/BD/136789/2018) are supported by grants from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology. This study is part of the Handball for Health project, which has the support of the Portuguese Handball Federation, the European Handball Federation, Porto Sports Medicine Center (IPDJ, IP) and Gaia City Hall. This work is supported by national funding through the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., under project UIDB04045/2020. Funders had no role in the design and implementation of the study; in the collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; and in the preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology [SFRH/BD/144132/2019; SFRH/BD/136789/2018] and national funding through the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., under project UIDB04045/2020.