Abstract
BackgroundSports and exercise training can attenuate age-related declines in physical function. As people age, they suffer a progressive deterioration of overall muscle structure and function, such as muscle diameter, strength, mass, and power. Therefore, supporting older adults—aged 50 years and above—to continue being physically active is a very important factor. Several forms of exercise (strength, agility, endurance, balance, and flexibility) are recommended. In this regard, football has been repeatedly shown to be an integrative approach to promote measures of strength, endurance, and agility. However, there has been no previous randomized controlled trial that comparatively investigates the effects of football training versus traditional aerobic exercise training on muscle architecture and patella tendon properties in healthy community dwellers. The study protocol is designed to examine whether football differentially affects muscle thickness, muscle length, fascicle length, pennation angle, patella tendon length, and thickness compared to a workload matched traditional aerobic exercise training regimen.MethodsThe study sample consists of 60 untrained but healthy men (50–60 years old), who will be randomly assigned (strata: age, activate) to two groups: football group (n = 30) and aerobic group (n = 30). The intervention will take place within 12 consecutive weeks, two times a week for 60 min each session. The football group will perform recreational football training as a large-sided game, whereas the aerobic group undergoes a running exercise. Both groups have the same external workload ranging between moderate and high exercise intensity. The outcome measure will be collected before and after the intervention period.DiscussionFindings of this study will provide insight into the effects of 24 sessions of both football and aerobic training program on the selected groups of men adults, including detecting their effects on the thigh muscle architecture.Trial registrationDRKS—German Clinical Trials Register, DRKS00020536. Registered on 30 January 2020.
Highlights
Background and rationale {6a} The section is going to introduce a number of points in order: (a) the progressive deterioration aging has on muscles, (b) defining muscle architecture and identifying how training impacts it, (c) highlighting the benefits of football training and aerobic training on aging, and (d) the purpose of the study—to conduct a comparative assessment between the effects football training and aerobic training have on aging, and which one is better
Thirtyseven participants were randomized to two training groups—football and running—training 1 h with equal average heart rates for 16 weeks
The results show that there are effects on both left ventricular systolic and diastolic function and the training-induced cardiac adaptations appeared to be more consistent after football training compared with running [7]
Summary
The study sample consists of 60 untrained but healthy men (50–60 years old), who will be randomly assigned (strata: age, activate) to two groups: football group (n = 30) and aerobic group (n = 30). The intervention will take place within 12 consecutive weeks, two times a week for 60 min each session. The football group will perform recreational football training as a large-sided game, whereas the aerobic group undergoes a running exercise. Both groups have the same external workload ranging between moderate and high exercise intensity. The outcome measure will be collected before and after the intervention period
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