Health-Related Physical Fitness in Healthy Untrained Men: Effects on VO2max, Jump Performance and Flexibility of Soccer and Moderate-Intensity Continuous Running

PLOS ONE, Dec 2019

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of recreational soccer (SOC) compared to moderate-intensity continuous running (RUN) on all health-related physical fitness components in healthy untrained men. Sixty-nine participants were recruited and randomly assigned to one of three groups, of which sixty-four completed the study: a soccer training group (SOC; n = 20, 34±4 (means±SD) years, 78.1±8.3 kg, 179±4 cm); a running group (RUN; n = 21, 32±4 years, 78.0±5.5 kg, 179±7 cm); or a passive control group (CON; n = 23, 30±3 years, 76.6±12.0 kg, 178±8 cm). The training intervention lasted 12 weeks and consisted of three 60-min sessions per week. All participants were tested for each of the following physical fitness components: maximal aerobic power, minute ventilation, maximal heart rate, squat jump (SJ), countermovement jump with arm swing (CMJ), sit-and-reach flexibility, and body composition. Over the 12 weeks, VO2max relative to body weight increased more (p<0.05) in SOC (24.2%, ES = 1.20) and RUN (21.5%, ES = 1.17) than in CON (-5.0%, ES = -0.24), partly due to large changes in body mass (-5.9, -5.7 and +2.6 kg, p<0.05 for SOC, RUN and CON, respectively). Over the 12 weeks, SJ and CMJ performance increased more (p<0.05) in SOC (14.8 and 12.1%, ES = 1.08 and 0.81) than in RUN (3.3 and 3.0%, ES = 0.23 and 0.19) and CON (0.3 and 0.2%), while flexibility also increased more (p<0.05) in SOC (94%, ES = 0.97) than in RUN and CON (0–2%). In conclusion, untrained men displayed marked improvements in maximal aerobic power after 12 weeks of soccer training and moderate-intensity running, partly due to large decreases in body mass. Additionally soccer training induced pronounced positive effects on jump performance and flexibility, making soccer an effective broad-spectrum fitness training intervention.

A PDF file should load here. If you do not see its contents the file may be temporarily unavailable at the journal website or you do not have a PDF plug-in installed and enabled in your browser.

Alternatively, you can download the file locally and open with any standalone PDF reader:

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0135319&type=printable

Health-Related Physical Fitness in Healthy Untrained Men: Effects on VO2max, Jump Performance and Flexibility of Soccer and Moderate-Intensity Continuous Running

August Health-Related Physical Fitness in Healthy Untrained Men: Effects on VO2max, Jump Performance and Flexibility of Soccer and Moderate-Intensity Continuous Running Zoran Milanović 0 1 Saša Pantelić 0 1 Goran Sporiš 0 1 Magni Mohr 0 1 Peter Krustrup 0 1 0 1 Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, University of Niš , Niš , Serbia , 2 Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia, 3 Sport and Health Sciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter , Exeter , United Kingdom , 4 Center of Health and Human Performance, Department of Food and Nutrition, and Sport Science, University of Gothenburg , Gothenburg , Sweden , 5 Faculty of Natural and Health Sciences, University of the Faroe Islands, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands, 6 Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports, Copenhagen Centre for Team Sport and Health, University of Copenhagen , Copenhagen , Denmark 1 Editor: Pedro Tauler, University of the Balearic Islands , SPAIN - Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of recreational soccer (SOC) compared to moderate-intensity continuous running (RUN) on all health-related physical fitness components in healthy untrained men. Sixty-nine participants were recruited and randomly assigned to one of three groups, of which sixty-four completed the study: a soccer training group (SOC; n = 20, 34±4 (means±SD) years, 78.1±8.3 kg, 179±4 cm); a running group (RUN; n = 21, 32±4 years, 78.0±5.5 kg, 179±7 cm); or a passive control group (CON; n = 23, 30±3 years, 76.6±12.0 kg, 178±8 cm). The training intervention lasted 12 weeks and consisted of three 60-min sessions per week. All participants were tested for each of the following physical fitness components: maximal aerobic power, minute ventilation, maximal heart rate, squat jump (SJ), countermovement jump with arm swing (CMJ), sit-and-reach flexibility, and body composition. Over the 12 weeks, VO2max relative to body weight increased more (p<0.05) in SOC (24.2%, ES = 1.20) and RUN (21.5%, ES = 1.17) than in CON (-5.0%, ES = -0.24), partly due to large changes in body mass (-5.9, -5.7 and +2.6 kg, p<0.05 for SOC, RUN and CON, respectively). Over the 12 weeks, SJ and CMJ performance increased more (p<0.05) in SOC (14.8 and 12.1%, ES = 1.08 and 0.81) than in RUN (3.3 and 3.0%, ES = 0.23 and 0.19) and CON (0.3 and 0.2%), while flexibility also increased more (p<0.05) in SOC (94%, ES = 0.97) than in RUN and CON (0–2%). In conclusion, untrained men displayed marked improvements in maximal aerobic power after 12 weeks of soccer training and moderate-intensity running, partly due to large decreases in body mass. Additionally soccer training induced pronounced positive effects on jump performance and flexibility, making soccer an effective broad-spectrum fitness training intervention. Health-related physical fitness has been defined as specific components of physical fitness related to body composition, cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular fitness, flexibility and body composition [1], whereas performance related fitness is defined in relation to crucial abilities for success in sports competitions and athletic events [2]. It is well known that aging causes deterioration of all health components if regular physical activity and an active lifestyle are not maintained during the lifespan. In addition, improving or maintaining physical fitness reduces the risk of all-cause and cardiovascular diseases [3]. Despite the fact that fitness is a strong mortality predictor, many studies fail to take into account overall fitness status as an independent risk factor compared to parameters such as hypertension, diabetes, smoking or obesity [4]. Several studies argue that moderate-intensity continuous exercise training (RUN) is an efficient intervention for improving cardiorespiratory fitness regardless of age, training status or gender [5–9]. In addition, meta-analyses reports suggest high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and sprint interval training as protocols for improving VO2max in inactive subjects [10–12]. Moreover, Milanović et al. [13] found that high-intensity interval training is beneficial for VO2max in recreational subjects with lower baseline levels of VO2max (up to 40 mL kg-1 min-1) as well as high levels (above 48 mL kg-1 min-1), while moderate-intensity exercise is more suitable for moderately trained subjects (40–47 mL kg-1 min-1). Thus, different training status may impact the efficiency of different training modes. Nader [14] has reported that strength and endurance training produce diverse adaptations, with little overlap between them. Furthermore, when strength and endurance training are performed simultaneously, a potential interference in strength development may occur [14]. The training effects on body composition may also differ between different types of training, although increases in lean mass and decreases in fat mass, (...truncated)


This is a preview of a remote PDF: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0135319&type=printable

Zoran Milanović, Saša Pantelić, Goran Sporiš, Magni Mohr, Peter Krustrup. Health-Related Physical Fitness in Healthy Untrained Men: Effects on VO2max, Jump Performance and Flexibility of Soccer and Moderate-Intensity Continuous Running, PLOS ONE, 2015, 8, DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0135319