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Cardiovascular, muscular, and skeletal adaptations to recreational team handball training: a randomized controlled trial with young adult untrained men

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Abstract

Purpose

The prevalence of lifestyle diseases has escalated, and effective exercise training programmes are warranted. This study tested the hypothesis that regular participation in small-sided team handball training could provide beneficial health effects on cardiovascular, skeletal, and muscular parameters in young adult untrained men.

Method

Twenty-six untrained 20–30-year-old men were randomly allocated to either a team handball training group (HG; n = 14), which completed 1.9 ± 0.3 training sessions per week over 12 weeks, or an inactive control group (CG; n = 12). Physiological training adaptations were assessed pre- and post interventions by DXA scans, blood samples, muscle biopsies, and physical tests.

Results

The average heart rate during training was equivalent to 84 ± 4% of maximal heart rate. Compared to CG, HG displayed significant increases in VO2max (11 ± 6%), proximal femur bone mineral density (2 ± 1%), whole-body bone mineral content (2 ± 1%), intermittent endurance performance (32 ± 16%), incremental treadmill test performance (16 ± 7%) and muscle citrate synthase activity (22 ± 28%) as well as decreases in total fat mass (7 ± 7%) and total fat percentage (6 ± 7%) (all p < 0.05). There were no significant changes in muscle mass, blood pressure, resting heart rate, muscle hydroxyl-acyl-dehydrogenase activity, or blood lipids (all p > 0.05).

Conclusion

Participation in regular recreational team handball training was associated with positive cardiovascular, skeletal, and muscular adaptations, including increased maximal oxygen uptake, increased muscle enzymatic activity, and improved bone mineralization as well as lower fat percentage. These findings suggest that recreational team handball training may be an effective health-promoting activity for young adult men.

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Abbreviations

ANOVA:

Analysis of variance

BMD:

Bone mineral density

BMC:

Bone mineral content

CG:

Control group

CS:

Citrate synthase

CTX-1:

Carboxy-terminal type-1 collagen crosslinks

DXA:

Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry

EDTA:

Ethylenediaminetetraacetate acid

HAD:

3-hydroxacyl-CoA dehydrogenase

HbA1c:

Glycosylated haemoglobin

HDL-C:

High-density lipoprotein cholesterol

HG:

Handball training group

HR:

Heart rate

IPAQ:

International Physical Activity Questionnaire

LDL-C:

Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol

P1NP:

Procollagen type-1 amino-terminal propeptide

TC:

Total cholesterol

TG:

Triglycerides

T2DM:

Type 2 diabetes mellitus

VO2max :

Maximal oxygen uptake

Yo–Yo IE1:

Yo–Yo intermittent endurance level 1 test

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Jon Egelund, Marie Hagman, Signe Hudloff Nielsen, and Nadia Quardon for their practical and technical assistance, and the participants for their committed participation. We would also like to express our gratitude for the support of TrygFonden, Nordea-fonden (Nordea-fonden 02-2011-4360), the Danish Handball Federation (Dansk Håndbold Forbund, DHF), and the European Handball Federation (EHF).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports, University of Copenhagen, 2200, Copenhagen N, Denmark

    Therese Hornstrup, F. T. Løwenstein, M. A. Larsen, E. W. Helge, J. J. Nielsen, B. Fristrup, L. Gliemann & L. Nybo

  2. Research Center in Sports Sciences, Health Sciences and Human Development, CIDESD, University Institute of Maia, ISMAI, 4475-690, Maia, Portugal

    S. Póvoas

  3. Center for Healthy Aging, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 2200, Copenhagen N, Denmark

    J. W. Helge

  4. Institute of Sports Medicine Copenhagen, Bispebjerg Hospital, 2400, Copenhagen NV, Denmark

    J. L. Andersen

  5. Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, SDU Sport and Health Sciences Cluster (SHSC), University of Southern Denmark, 5230, Odense, Denmark

    P. Krustrup

  6. Sport and Health Sciences, Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX1 2LU, UK

    P. Krustrup

Authors
  1. Therese Hornstrup
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  2. F. T. Løwenstein
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  3. M. A. Larsen
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  4. E. W. Helge
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  5. S. Póvoas
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  6. J. W. Helge
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  7. J. J. Nielsen
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  8. B. Fristrup
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  9. J. L. Andersen
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  10. L. Gliemann
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  11. L. Nybo
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  12. P. Krustrup
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Contributions

TH conceived of the study design, applied for funding, conducted the training and testing, carried out the data collection and analysis, interpreted the study results, and drafted the manuscript; FTL and MAL conducted the training and testing and carried out the data collection and analysis; EWH, JWH, SP, JLA, and LN contributed the study design, interpreted the study results, and edited the manuscript; BF conducted the training and carried out the video analysis; JJN carried out muscle analysis and edited the manuscript; LG carried out the muscle biopsies and edited the manuscript; PK conceived of the study design, applied for funding, interpreted the study results, and edited the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript, and agree with the order of presentation of the authors.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Therese Hornstrup.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that this study was partly funded by DHF and EHF. The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Data

The datasets and analysis generated during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Communicated by I. Mark Olfert.

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Hornstrup, T., Løwenstein, F.T., Larsen, M.A. et al. Cardiovascular, muscular, and skeletal adaptations to recreational team handball training: a randomized controlled trial with young adult untrained men. Eur J Appl Physiol 119, 561–573 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-018-4034-5

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