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Soccer (football) reduces the risk of falls and bone fractures
An extensive research project carried out over the last 4 years have studied the effects of football on balance, muscle strength and bone density among 20-50 year old women and 20-70 year old men. The project is carried out in collaboration between the Department of Sports Science, University of Copenhagen, Institute of Sports and Biomechanics at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense, Institute of Sports Medicine at Bispebjerg Hospital, Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Amager Hospital, Rigshospitalet, The National Research Centre for Working Environment and Lund University in Sweden.
The results show that regular participation in football is causing significant improvements in standing postural balance and rapid muscle force development and increases in bone mass and bone density (Krustrup et al. 2009a+b, 2010a+b, Helge et al. 2010, Sundstrup et al. 2010). Together, these effects reduce the risk of falls and bone fractures. Furthermore, it has been shown that recreational women's football effectively improves the reflex response to sudden trunk loading (Pedersen et al. 2009) and recent studies show that improved reflexes in the back may reduce the risk of lumbar pain
Men aged 20-40
Articles published in BJSM and EJAP (Krustrup et al. 2009a+b) have shown reported that 12 weeks of recreational football for untrained men aged 20-40 years elevated muscle mass by 1.7 kg and caused an increase in the area of quadriceps muscle fibres in 16%. The bone mass in the legs increased with 3% and the postural balance was markedly improved. In a follow-up study of long-term effects of football for men, it was demonstrated that 64 weeks of training have an additional effect on both muscle mass, bone mass and bone density (Randers et al., 2010), despite that training frequency was reduced by 45% after the first 12 weeks.
Women
A women's soccer study with 1-h football training sessions twice a week for 14 weeks showed marked increases in bone density in the tibia (Helge et al. 2010). Furthermore football training showed an increase in the mass of the calf muscle, in maximal muscle strength in power development and an improved postural balance, causing an overall decrease in the risk of falls and bone fractures (Helge et al., 2010). Another article in SJMSS shows that prolonged football for untrained women between 20-45 years gives an additional improvement in bone density (Krustrup et al., 2010c). Whole-body DXA scans were performed after 4 and 16 months of training (2x1 h per week) and further improvements in leg BMD and muscle strength were observed. The women who participated in the study had never played football before, implying that all, regardless football technical level, can benefit from football. It is well known that the risk of falls and fractures increases with age as a result of lower balance, muscle strength and weaker bones, but the present results suggest that football - and possibly other ball games - for both children and adults is an effective training method to reduce bone weakening that comes with increasing age.
Another study recently published in JSCR, revealed that recreational soccer for untrained women having have a positive impact on the reflex response to sudden trunk loading, probably due to multiple sprints, shots, tackles, interceptions and direction changes (Pedersen et al. 2009). A 16-wk period of recreational football (2 times 1 hour per week) for 20-45 yr old untrained women resulted in a 24% reduction in distance moved and a 15% reduction in stoppage time, when exposed to sudden trunk loading (Pedersen et al. 2009). No changes were observed for a similar group of runners or inactive controls. The researchers concluded that participation in football has the potential to reduce the risk of low-back injury and low-back pain among untrained women.
Men age 65-75
The research group has also examined muscle function and postural balance in a group of 65-75 year old men who have played football most of their lives. The elderly football players were compared with a group of age-matched without specific training activities and a group of inactive 30-year-old men (Sundstrup et al. 2010). The results revealed that postural balance and rapid muscle strength of elderly footballers was much better than for elderly without specific training and as good as for untrained youngsters. As an example, the untrained older had more than twice as many falls in a one-leg balance test, compared to the football-trained older men and untrained young men (respectively 33, 15 and 15 falls; Sundstrup et al. 2010).
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Peter Krustrup
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