Exercise intensity during walking football for men and women aged 60+ in comparison to traditional small-sided football – a pilot study

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to quantify the intensity, perceived exertion and enjoyment of participation in walking football (WF) for elderly men and women compared to traditional small-sided running football (RF) and walking (W).

Methods: 32 men and women aged 60–83 from recreational football teams performed a 5-min W, followed by 10-min WF and RF games in a counterbalanced order, separated by an 8–10 min break. The men and women played 5v5 and 6v6, respectively, on small-sided football pitches (men: 40 × 16.5 m; women 40 × 30 m) with medium-sized goals (3 × 1.5 m). Heart rate (HR) and locomotor activities were monitored throughout sessions and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) and Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PACES) scores were determined immediately after sessions.

Results: During RF, mean HR was higher (P  0.05) compared to WF and W for both men aged 60+ (126 ± 23 vs 112 ± 19 and 98 ± 19 beats/min) and women aged 60+ (144 ± 24 vs 133 ± 30 and 112 ± 20 beats/min), and higher (P < 0.05) during WF than W. During RF, more distance (P < 0.05) was covered at >8 km/h compared to WF and W for both men aged 60+ (134 ± 73 vs 36 ± 27 and 6 ± 7 m) and women aged 60+ (119 ± 89 vs 39 ± 38 and 1 ± 1 m), with more distance (p < 0.05) during WF compared to W. Both men and women had higher PACES and RPE scores (P < 0.05) for RF compared to WF.

Conclusion: WF for elderly men and women results in higher heart rates and more distance covered in more intense speed zones than W, but less than in traditional small-sided football. Future studies should elucidate the hypothesis that WF is more effective in relation to fitness and health benefits compared to W, but less effective compared to small-sided traditional football.

KEYWORDS:

• Football
• soccer
• walking
• older adults
• health

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the participating football players from Frederikssund IK and FC Prostate. No funding was obtained but was performed as part of the employment at University of Southern Denmark.

Disclosure statement

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

Data availability statement

The data used to support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.