Cardiovascular and metabolic health effects of team handball training in overweight women: Impact of prior experience

Abstract

Purpose:We tested the hypothesis that participation in small-sided team handball training could provide beneficial effects on cardiovascular and metabolic parameters in overweight premenopausal women with special focus on the importance of prior team handball experience. Methods: A 16-week RCT training intervention was conducted in overweight premenopausal women randomized into three groups: a team handball training group without prior experience (UN; n = 13), a team handball group with prior experience (EXP; n = 10), and an inactive control group (CON; n = 9). Both UN and EXP completed 1.6 ± 0.3 training sessions per week with average heart rates of 84 ± 5 and 85 ± 9% of maximal heart rate, respectively. Cardiovascular and metabolic parameters were assessed before and after the intervention. Results: Compared to CON, UN had significant increases in VO 2max (7 ± 4%) and intermittent endurance performance (26 ± 14%) as well as reduced total fat mass (4 ± 6%), total fat percentage (4 ± 5%), and android fat mass (7 ± 12%), respectively (all P < .05). Compared to UN and CON, EXP displayed increased left ventricular mass and left ventricular mass index (both P < .05) after the training period. There were no significant changes between any of the groups in muscle mass, blood lipids, resting heart rate, and blood pressure (all P > .05). Conclusion: Small-sided team handball training in overweight premenopausal women resulted in improvement of VO 2max and body composition for participants with minimal team handball experience, indicating that prior team handball experience is not a prerequisite for improving physiological parameters of importance for health. Furthermore, EXP displayed cardiac adaptations, including increased left ventricular mass and left ventricular mass index. K E Y W O R D S body composition, echocardiographic parameters, maximal oxygen uptake, premenopausal women, team handball training, team sports 282 | HORNSTRUP eT al. How to cite this article: Hornstrup T, Póvoas S, Helge JW, et al. Cardiovascular and metabolic health effects of team handball training in overweight women: Impact of prior experience. Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2020;30:281-294. https ://doi.

Effects of recreational team handball on bone health, postural balance and body composition in inactive postmenopausal women — A randomised controlled trial

“…Increases in femur BMD (0.8 and 2.0%), P1NP (33 and 65%), OC (56 and 45%) and CTX (34 and 25%) were observed in 20-30-year-old women and men, respectively, after a 12-week recreational team handball intervention involving two to three sessions per week, which accords with the findings of this study [15,16,34].…”

“…Curiously, both groups decreased body fat, THG by 1.1%-point and CG by 0.8%-points. In recreational team sports, changes in fat and lean mass were observed in several studies, namely using floorball for postmenopausal women [31,38], team handball for young men and women [15,16,34], and football for men of the same mean age as our participants [39]. The decrease in body fat in THG is in accordance with previous training studies with team handball for young women (1.0%) [16] and overweight premenopausal women (1.4%) [34] playing recreational team handball twice a week for 12-16 weeks.…”

Effects of small-sided recreational team handball training on mechanical muscle function, body composition and bone mineralization in untrained young adults—A randomized controlled trial

“…Nonetheless, substantial gains in rapid force capacity (RFD) and postural balance were observed following the training period, accompanied by increases in lean body mass and bone mineralization and decrease in fat body mass. These observations add to previous reports in untrained adults of positive effects of small-sided team handball training on cardiovascular, metabolic and musculoskeletal fitness, respectively [24][25][26]37].…”

Injury Profile of Male and Female Senior and Youth Handball Players: A Systematic Review

“…The popularity of this sport has increased in recent years, and currently, there are an estimated 25 million players worldwide [2], including male, female, senior, and youth players [3]. Despite the multiple beneficial effects derived from handball practice, such as improvements in cardiovascular, metabolic, muscular and psychosocial health [4][5][6], this team sport presents a high injury risk [7], mainly due to its high-intensity specific demands (i.e., rapid changes of direction, jumps with abrupt landings and repetitive throws, as well as frequent physical contact among players [8,9]). Likewise, low physical fitness, incorrect technique, lack of flexibility, and also inadequate rehabilitation treatment of injuries have been reported as risk factors related to the occurrence of injuries [10,11].…”