Effect of a 26-month floorball training on male elderly's cardiovascular fitness, glucose control, body composition, and functional capacity

Abstract

BackgroundFloorball training offers a motivating and socially stimulating team activity for older adults, and 12 weeks of floorball training twice a week among men aged 65–76 years have been shown to have positive effects on a number of physiological parameters important for health. However, the effect of long-term participation in floorball training among male elderly has not been investigated. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of 26-month self-organized regular participation in floorball training on cardiovascular fitness, body composition, blood lipids, glucose control, and physical function among recreationally active men aged 66–78 years.MethodsAfter completing a 12-week randomized and controlled intervention with floorball and petanque training in the autumn 2014 or spring 2015, 15 subjects chose to participate in floorball training (floorball group, FG), whereas 16 subjects resumed their usual lifestyle (control group, CG). FG took part in self-organized floorball training 1.7 sessions of 40 min/week, and CG continued their normal recreationally active lifestyle during a 26-month follow-up period. At baseline and after the follow-up period subjects were tested for cardiovascular fitness, glucose control (resting blood samples), body composition dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA-scanning), and functional capacity.ResultsIn FG, the decline in maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) during the follow-up period was lower (242 ± 379 mL/min, p = 0.01), blood glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) increased less (−1.6 ± 2.9 mmol/L, p = 0.02), and leg bone mineral density increased more (0.03 ± 0.05 g/cm2, p = 0.02) than those in CG. The effects on body mass, total lean body mass, fat mass, blood lipids, and physical function were similar in FG and CG.ConclusionApproximately twice weekly floorball sessions with 40 min/session over 26-month appear to reduce age-related decline in cardiovascular fitness and glucose control and improve leg bone mineral density, suggesting that long-term participation in floorball training can be considered as a health-enhancing activity in recreationally active male elderly.

Is regular physical activity a key to mental health? Commentary on “Association between physical exercise and mental health in 1.2 million individuals in the USA between 2011 and 2015: A cross-sectional study”, by Chekroud et al., published in Lancet Psychiatry

“…Chekroud et al 1 show that the correlation with mental health burden was lowest when individuals engage in about 45 min of exercise 3–5 days per week. This is in close agreement with the recommendation of 150 min per week of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity from the World Health Organization and also aligns with numerous recent training studies showing that marked fitness and positive physiological health effects result when individuals exercise 2–3 times per week for 60 min or participate in a team sport 3 times per week for 40 min 9, 10, 11. This inverted U relationship corroborates findings showing that excessive exercising is often related to mental health problems (e.g., exercise addiction 12 ) and simultaneously indicates that only a sufficient frequency and volume of physical exercise is related to fewer days of mental ill-being.…”

Virtual Reality Exercise as a Coping Strategy for Health and Wellness Promotion in Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Given that many are experiencing stressful life challenges under the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, it is imperative to develop innovative and effective PA intervention programs that reduce stress and promote health and wellbeing in older adults [12,13]. One innovative intervention strategy that has shown promise in the healthcare field is virtual reality (VR)-based PA interventions [14].…”

Sport Medicine in the Prevention and Management of Cancer

“…Work to date indicates that sport participation as a health promotion activity has a broad spectrum of physical and psychological benefits in not only healthy/asymptomatic individuals but also clinical populations with common cardiometabolic comorbidities including hypertension, diabetes, and obesity regardless of age, sex, and socioeconomic background. A summary of beneficial effects resulting from a period of participation in individual and team-based sport activities including golf, 42 rugby, 54,55 soccer, [56][57][58][59][60] basketball, 61 handball, 62 and floorball 63,64 in untrained, healthy/ asymptomatic individuals and noncancer patients is presented in Table 1. Likewise, a small but growing number of studies [65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79] have shown that regular participation in individual and team-based sports (including triathlon, wall climbing, dragon boat racing, and soccer) is also effective as an exercise therapy for persons previously diagnosed with cancer (mostly breast and prostate cancer) in alleviating diseaserelated and treatment-related adverse effects on physical, physiological, and psychological function (Tables 2 and 3).…”