Bone Health, Body Composition and Physiological Demands in 70-85-Year-Old Lifelong Male Football Players

Abstract

The effects of lifelong football training on bone health, body composition and physiological demands were evaluated. A total of 20 veteran football players (VPG; 73.4 ± 3.7 years) and 18 untrained age-matched men (CG; 75.6 ± 4.2 years) were enrolled. Whole-body and regional dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scans of arms, legs, proximal femur and lower spine (L1-L4) were recorded in all participants. We observerd higher bone mineral density (BMD) in the whole-body, arms and femoral regions and higher bone mineral content (BMC) in the legs and lower spine compared to the CG (p < 0.05), also higher total lean body mass (p < 0.05) and lower total body fat percentage (p < 0.05), were found. No differences in food habits were evidenced between the VPG and the CG, as evaluated using 3-day food records. Resting heart rate (RHR), blood pressure (BP) and activity profile during a football match were recorded using a global positioning system only in the VPG. The mean heart rate (HR)of theoretical maximal HR (ThHRmax), and peak of ThHRmax were 83.9 ± 8.6% and 98.6 ± 10.2%, respectively; the mean of total distance covered was 3666 ± 721 m, and the means of accelerations and decelerations were 419 ± 61 and 428 ± 65, respectively. Lifelong participation in football training improves regional BMD and BMC in legs, femur and lumbar spine compared to the CG. A high number of intense actions in term of HR and accelerations and decelerations suggests an elevated energy expenditure that in turn correlates to the healthier body composition observed in the VPG compared to the CG.

Keywords: body composition; bone health; elderly; lifelong football training; physiological demand.

Figure 1

Flowchart of study design. Abbreviations: SSG, small-sided games; GPS, global positioning system; HR, heart rate; RHR, resting heart rate; BP, blood pressure; DXA, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry.

Figure 2

Summary of differences between VPG and CG for various parameters analyzed. The red arrows indicate a statistically significant increase (p < 0.05) in VPG compared to CG and the green horizontal bars indicate no difference between groups. Numerical and statistical values are given in the respective tables.

Figure 3

Percentage of effective match time spent in various heart rate zones (A), distance covered in different speed zones (B), number of accelerations (C) and decelerations (D) in different acceleration and deceleration zones measured during veteran football players’ (VPG; n = 18) participation in the study. The inside line represents the median; the box, the interquartile range; the solid gray circles, the individual value and the whiskers, the highest and lowest values. (A): * < 120 bpm vs. 160–180 bpm, * < 120 bpm vs. >180 bpm (p < 0.001); ^† 120–140 bpm vs. 160–180 bpm, ^† 120–140 bpm vs. >180 bpm (p < 0.001); ^‡ 140–160 vs. 160–180 bpm, ^‡ 140–160 bpm vs. >180 bpm (p < 0.001); ^§ 120–140 bpm vs. <120 bpm (p = 0.03); (B): * 0–8.99 km/h vs. 9–12.99 km/h; * 0–8.99 km/h vs. 13–15.99 km/h, * 0–8.99 km/h vs. 16–19.99 km/h and * 0–8.99 km/h vs. >20 km/h (p < 0.001); ^† 9–12.99 km/h vs. 13–15.99 km/h, ^† 9–12.99 km/h vs. 16–19.99 and ^† 9–12.99 km/h vs. >20 km/h (p < 0.001); ^‡ 13–15.99 km/h vs. 16–19.99, ^‡ 13–15.99 km/h vs. >20 km/h (p < 0.001); ^|| 16–19.99 vs. >20 km/h (p < 0.001); (C,D): * 0.5–0.99 m/s² vs. 1–1.99 m/s², * 0.5–0.99 m/s² vs. 2–2.99 m/s² and * 0.5–0.99 m/s² vs. >3 m/s² (p < 0.001); ^† 1–1.99 m/s² vs. 2–2.99 m/s² and ^† 1–1.99 m/s² vs. >3 m/s² (p < 0.001); ^‡ 2–2.99 m/s² vs. >3 m/s² (p < 0.001).