Cardiorespiratory Responses to Recreational Small-Sided Walking Soccer in Community-Dwelling Middle-aged to Older Adults with Mild Metabolic Disorders

Makoto Ayabe, Yoshiki Okita, Yuya Higashino, Kazuhiro Morimura, Hideaki Kumahara and Satoshi Ishizaki

[Received January 27, 2020; Accepted April 23, 2020] 

The current investigation aimed to examine the cardiorespiratory responses to recreational walking soccer (WS) in middle-aged to older adults with mild metabolic disorders. Twenty volunteers (aged 54-73 yr) played recreational WS that consists of five field players without a goalkeeper in one team, with movement limited to walking for 10 minutes of total playing time in an indoor standardized basketball court. The heart rate (HR) was 127 ± 20 beats/min (bpm; 82 ± 14% of the age-predicted maximum HR) in the 10-min game of WS, and it was significantly associated with the number of plays with a ball after adjusting for age (p < 0.05). The estimated metabolic cost was 8.0 ± 1.6 metabolic equivalents, showing a significant correlation with the maximal oxygen uptake, number of plays with a ball, and stepping rate (p < 0.05). These results indicated that the cardiorespiratory responses to a 10-min, 5 vs. 5 recreational WS would probably be above the desirable levels of the exercise prescribed in middle to old-aged adults with mild metabolic disorders. However, the chronic adaptability and health benefits of the recreational WS remain unclear.

Keywords: walking football, FIFA 11 for health, fitness, aerobic capacity, acceleration

[Football Science Vol.17, 11-15, 2020]


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