Soccer Leads to More Weight Loss Than Jogging
While thousands of people each year take up jogging to drop unwanted pounds, a new study suggests they'd be better off joining a soccer team. Researchers from the University of Copenhagen, the Copenhagen University Hospital and Bispebjerg Hospital, concluded that soccer players made significantly more fitness gains and lost more fat than runners according to a press release issued by the university.
The study followed 14 men with no previous soccer experience that were between 20 and 40 years of age. Over the course of three months of two to three weekly hour long soccer practices, the participants were regularly tested to determine fitness levels, muscle mass, fat percentage, blood pressure, and balance.
Over the three months, everything that the scientists tested for improved according Peter Krustrup, leader of the study. The participant's fitness levels and muscle mass jumped, while the fat percentage and blood pressure decreased.
Krustrup also looked at a group of runners who trained the same amount of time each week as the soccer players. Although the research indicated an overall improvement in health, the gains from regular running were significantly less than those achieved by the participants who played soccer over the twelve weeks.
Although it is a good practice to run long distances at a consistent moderate speed, the research suggests that soccer is a more beneficial form of exercise for several reasons. Not only was the increase in both fitness rating and muscle mass greater for the soccer players, but the participants that played soccer were the only people to show any improvement during the last eight weeks of the experiment.
At the end of the experiment the soccer players had lost 7.7 pounds (3.5 kilos) of fat and gained 4.4 pounds (2 kilos) of extra muscle mass. These statistics were far better than the jogging group, who gained no muscle, and lost 4.4 pounds (2 kilos) of fat.
However, both groups had improvement in blood pressure, balance, and insulin sensitivity. According to the press release, the scientists believe that the varying paces during a soccer workout, including running, sprinting, and walking, allows soccer players to get more benefits from their workout.
Another added benefit to soccer is that soccer players reported the exercise to be moderate, while the joggers found their practice to be especially difficult. However, both groups exercised at the same overall pace for the hour. In the press release, Krustrup suggested that soccer allowed little time for the participants to examine the difficulty of their workout, while runners felt more isolated, allowing them more time to reflect.
The study followed 14 men with no previous soccer experience that were between 20 and 40 years of age. Over the course of three months of two to three weekly hour long soccer practices, the participants were regularly tested to determine fitness levels, muscle mass, fat percentage, blood pressure, and balance.
Over the three months, everything that the scientists tested for improved according Peter Krustrup, leader of the study. The participant's fitness levels and muscle mass jumped, while the fat percentage and blood pressure decreased.
Krustrup also looked at a group of runners who trained the same amount of time each week as the soccer players. Although the research indicated an overall improvement in health, the gains from regular running were significantly less than those achieved by the participants who played soccer over the twelve weeks.
Although it is a good practice to run long distances at a consistent moderate speed, the research suggests that soccer is a more beneficial form of exercise for several reasons. Not only was the increase in both fitness rating and muscle mass greater for the soccer players, but the participants that played soccer were the only people to show any improvement during the last eight weeks of the experiment.
At the end of the experiment the soccer players had lost 7.7 pounds (3.5 kilos) of fat and gained 4.4 pounds (2 kilos) of extra muscle mass. These statistics were far better than the jogging group, who gained no muscle, and lost 4.4 pounds (2 kilos) of fat.
However, both groups had improvement in blood pressure, balance, and insulin sensitivity. According to the press release, the scientists believe that the varying paces during a soccer workout, including running, sprinting, and walking, allows soccer players to get more benefits from their workout.
Another added benefit to soccer is that soccer players reported the exercise to be moderate, while the joggers found their practice to be especially difficult. However, both groups exercised at the same overall pace for the hour. In the press release, Krustrup suggested that soccer allowed little time for the participants to examine the difficulty of their workout, while runners felt more isolated, allowing them more time to reflect.
