Football 4 Health in Middle-aged to Older Adults

Catholic University (KU) of Leuven

Status

Completed

Conditions

Exercise Training

Treatments

Other: Football training

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

NCT05722899

S64926

Details and patient eligibility

About

Ageing in humans is accompanied by a progressive decline in lower-limb muscle power production. In addition to a decline in musculoskeletal fitness, ageing is associated with a reduction in cardiovascular and metabolic fitness. Therefore, if exercise interventions aim for a high impact on the overall health status of middle-aged and older adults, they should combine endurance, high-intensity interval training and muscular strengthening activities. Recreational football training combines all these training components, which implies that it could constitute an adequate training modality for participants of all ages. What remains to be investigated in more detail, is whether recreational football training can improve muscle power production in middle-aged to older adults and whether this potential improvement is present across the full force-velocity (F-V) profile. Next to a detailed analysis of the leg-extensor F-V profile as primary outcome, simultaneous effects on functional capacity, body composition and endurance exercise capacity were investigated. In addition, feasibility and the physical demands (internal and external load indicators) of the training program were tracked throughout the intervention period.

Enrollment

40 patients

Sex

All

Ages

55 to 70 years old

Volunteers

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

Unstable cardiovascular disease
Neurological disorders
Cognitive malfunctioning
Acute infections or fever
Severe musculoskeletal problems
Systematic engagement in (resistance) exercise in the 12 months prior to participation