Is Recreational Soccer Effective for Improving $$ \dot{V}{\text{O}}_{2\;\hbox{max} } $$ V ˙ O 2 max ? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

BackgroundSoccer is the most popular sport worldwide, with a long history and currently more than 500 million active participants, of whom 300 million are registered football club members. On the basis of scientific findings showing positive fitness and health effects of recreational soccer, FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) introduced the slogan “Playing football for 45 min twice a week—best prevention of non-communicable diseases” in 2010.ObjectiveThe objective of this paper was to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature to determine the effects of recreational soccer on maximal oxygen uptake ().MethodsSix electronic databases (MEDLINE, PubMed, SPORTDiscus, Web of Science, CINAHL and Google Scholar) were searched for original research articles. A manual search was performed to cover the areas of recreational soccer, recreational physical activity, recreational small-sided games and using the following key terms, either singly or in combination: recreational small-sided games, recreational football, recreational soccer, street football, street soccer, effect, maximal oxygen uptake, peak oxygen uptake, cardiorespiratory fitness, . The inclusion criteria were divided into four sections: type of study, type of participants, type of interventions and type of outcome measures. Probabilistic magnitude-based inferences for meta-analysed effects were based on standardised thresholds for small, moderate and large changes (0.2, 0.6 and 1.2, respectively) derived from between-subject standard deviations for baseline fitness.ResultsSeventeen studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis. Mean differences showed that increased by 3.51 mL/kg/min (95 % CI 3.07–4.15) over a recreational soccer training programme in comparison with other training models. The meta-analysed effects of recreational soccer on compared with the controls of no exercise, continuous running and strength training were most likely largely beneficial [effect size (ES) = 1.46; 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.91, 2.01; I2 = 88.35 %], most likely moderately beneficial (ES = 0.68; 95 % CI 0.06, 1.29; I2 = 69.13 %) and most likely moderately beneficial (ES = 1.08; 95 % CI −0.25, 2.42; I2 = 71.06 %), respectively. In men and women, the meta-analysed effect was most likely largely beneficial for men (ES = 1.22) and most likely moderately beneficial for women (ES = 0.96) compared with the controls. After 12 weeks of recreational soccer with an intensity of 78–84 % maximal heart rate (HRmax), healthy untrained men improved their by 8–13 %, while untrained elderly participants improved their by 15–18 %. Soccer training for 12–70 weeks in healthy women resulted in an improvement in of 5–16 %. Significant improvements in have been observed in patients with diabetes mellitus, hypertension and prostate cancer.ConclusionRecreational soccer produces large improvements in compared to strength training and no exercise, regardless of the age, sex and health status of the...

Submaximal field testing validity for aerobic fitness assessment in recreational football

“…These results parallel those referring to criterion validity in both the untrained and trained status that have shown a moderate association between HR 2min and VO 2max . The recreational football training intervention implemented in this study was successful in producing large improvements in aerobic fitness, in line with previously published studies addressing different populations . Despite the reported large (range 25‐44%) decrease in HR 2min across the field tests, the magnitude of test changes was only small by comparison with VO 2max inter‐individual changes.…”

“…The study was devised with the aim of examining the sustainability of low‐impact test procedures to evaluate the aerobic fitness status of recreational football players during the training process. This with the purpose of implementing, where necessary, training load adjustments to support clinically relevant (3.5 mL·kg −1 ·min −1 ) improvements in VO 2max . The results of this study provided evidence of an association between Yo‐Yo tests’ HR 2min and VO 2max in this population of recreational players, both in the baseline criterion validity (moderate associations) and in its confirmatory evaluation in the post‐intervention retest (small to moderate associations).…”

“…Recreational football in the form of small‐sided games performed approximately 2 times per week for 12 weeks improved maximal oxygen consumption (VO 2max ) by 8%‐13% in healthy untrained men. The reported changes in adult men were clinically superior to those induced in a running intervention group that trained for the same amount of time .…”

Maximal heart rate assessment in recreational football players: A study involving a multiple testing approach

“…In recreational football studies, significant increments in aerobic fitness (VO 2max and intermittent high‐intensity performance) were reported as a training effect of playing small‐sided games at an average intensity of 78%‐85% of HR max [mode 82% HR max ]. It has been suggested that permanence (~20% of total match time) at intensities above 90% of individual HR max during actual match play was probably the cause of the marked improvements observed in aerobic fitness and intermittent high‐intensity performance in recreational football‐based training interventions .…”

Can Amateur Football Help Players Meet the Requirements for a Healthy Lifestyle? A Case Study

“…The second type of football (leisure) has also been called recreational, and it is based on small sided games (i.e., 4vs4, 5vs5) played in reduced pitches with different number of players [7]. Different studies have showed that recreational football can produce improvements in VO2 max, body fat, blood pressure, bone health, and cardiac function [9,10,11,12]. There exists another type of football organization that falls between the categories of professional and recreational/leisure football with thousands or even millions of participants worldwide: amateur football.…”