Bone health, body composition and physical fitness dose–response effects of 16 weeks of recreational team handball for inactive middle-to-older-aged males: A randomised controlled trial

In this study we aimed at analysing the effects of different weekly exercise volumes (1, 2 or 3 times 60-min) on bone health, body composition and physical fitness of inactive middle-to-older-aged males, after 16 weeks of recreational team handball (RTH). Fifty-four men (68 ± 4 years, stature 169 ± 6 cm; body mass 78.4 ± 10.7 kg; fat mass 27.1 ± 5.3%; BMI 27.4 ± 2.9 kg/m²; VO_2peak 27.3 ± 4.8 mL/min/kg) were randomised into three intervention groups (TH1, n = 13; TH2, n = 15; or TH3, n = 12, performing 1, 2 and 3 weekly 60-min training sessions, respectively), and a control group (CG, n = 14). The training sessions consisted mainly of RTH matches played as small-sided and formal game formats (4v4, 5v5, 6v6 or 7v7) with adapted rules. Matches’ mean and peak heart rate (HR) ranged from 78–80% and 86–89%HR_max, respectively, and distance covered from 4676 to 5202 m. A time x group interaction was observed for procollagen type-1 amino-terminal propeptide (P1NP), osteocalcin (OC), carboxy-terminal type-1 collagen crosslinks (CTX), sclerostin, upper and lower body dynamic strength, right arm fat mass, left and right arm, right leg and android total mass (TM; p ≤ 0.047) with the greatest effects being shown for TH2 and TH3 groups. Post-intervention group differences were observed in CTX, left arm and right leg TM (TH3 > TH1), P1NP (TH2 > CG), OC, right arm TM (TH3 > CG), upper (CG < TH1, TH2 and TH3) and lower body dynamic strength (CG < TH1 and TH3) (p ≤ 0.047). RTH was effective in enhancing bone health, body composition and physical fitness in middle-to-older-aged males, especially for the intervention groups that performed 2–3 weekly training sessions. ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT05295511. Trial registration:ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT05295511.