Effects of recreational football performed once a week (1 hour per 12 weeks) on cardiovascular risk factors in middle-aged sedentary men

Objectives: It is well established that there is a strong relationship between physical activity, cardiovascular diseases and mortality. Regular recreational football training can lower blood pressure, heart rate at rest, fat percentage, LDL cholesterol and increase maximal aerobic power (VO2max). This study analyzed the effect of one recreational football training per week on middle-aged men. Design: Randomized controlled trial. Methods: Twenty-four participants (mean ± SDs; age 44.5 ± 4.7 years, weight 81.9 ± 10.4 kg, height 175.0 ± 7.3 cm) were randomized in a football group (FG = 10) and control group (CG = 14). FG performed supervised recreational football training (five-a-side futsal match) on 36 × 18.5 m synthetic indoor and outdoor field, 60 min per week over 12 weeks. Results: After training, VO2max and maximal aerobic speed improved in FG respectively of 4.4% (+1.89 mL O2⋅ kg−1.min−1 , P = 0.002) and 5.9% (P = 0.01). Systolic and mean blood pressure decreased respectively of 2.5% (−3.18 mmHg, P = 0.04) and 2.2% (−2.28 mmHg, P = 0.04) in FG, while diastolic blood pressure did not change (−1.84 mmHg, P = 0.09). Conclusions: Recreational football activity produces health benefits by improving VO2 max and lowering blood pressure parameters in middle-aged men.