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Purpose: The purpose of the present controlled cross-sectional study was to investigate proximal femur and whole-body bone mineral density (BMD), as well as bone turnover profile, in lifelong trained elderly male football players and young elite football players compared with untrained age-matched men., Methods: One hundred and forty healthy, non-smoking men participated in the study, including lifelong trained football players (FTE, n  = 35) aged 65-80 years, elite football players (FTY, n  = 35) aged 18-30 years, as well as untrained age-matched elderly (UE, n  = 35) and young (UY, n  = 35) men. All participants underwent a regional dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) scan of the proximal femur and a whole-body DXA scan to determine BMD. From a resting blood sample, the bone turnover markers (BTMs) osteocalcin, carboxy-terminal type-1 collagen crosslinks (CTX-1), procollagen type-1 amino-terminal propeptide (P1NP), and sclerostin were measured., Results: FTE had 7.3%-12.9% higher ( p  <   0.05) BMD of the femoral neck, wards, shaft, and total proximal femur in both legs compared to UE, and 9.3%-9.7% higher ( p  <   0.05) BMD in femoral trochanter in both legs compared to UY. FTY had 24.3%-37.4% higher ( p  <   0.001) BMD in all femoral regions and total proximal femur in both legs compared to UY. The whole-body DXA scan confirmed these results, with FTE showing similar whole-body BMD and 7.9% higher ( p  <   0.05) leg BMD compared to UY, and with FTY having 9.6% higher ( p  <   0.001) whole-body BMD and 18.2% higher ( p  <   0.001) leg BMD compared to UY. The plasma concentration of osteocalcin, CTX-1, and P1NP were 29%, 53%, and 52% higher ( p  <   0.01), respectively, in FTY compared to UY., Conclusion: BMD of the proximal femur and whole-body BMD are markedly higher in lifelong trained male football players aged 65-80 years and young elite football players aged 18-30 years compared to age-matched untrained men. Elderly football players even show higher BMD in femoral trochanter and leg BMD than untrained young despite an age difference of 47 years.

Purpose: The present study evaluated the effects of regular participation in small-sided team handball training on body composition, osteogenic response, physical performance, and cardiovascular risk factors, as well as well-being and motivation, in young untrained women., Methods: Twenty-eight untrained 20- to 30-year-old women were randomized to a handball training group (HG; n  = 14, height 170 ± 5 cm, weight 73 ± 11 kg, VO 2peak 37.7 ± 4.1 mL/min/kg) that trained 1.7 ± 0.3 times per week over 12 weeks (70 min 4 v 4 handball sessions) or an inactive control group (CG; n  = 14, 169 ± 5 cm, 71 ± 12 kg, 38.1 ± 3.7 mL/min/kg). Physiological and psychological and motivational training adaptations were assessed pre- and post-intervention by dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) scans, blood sampling, physical tests, and questionnaires., Results: The average heart rate (HR) over all training sessions was equal to 85% ± 6% HR max . Between-group intervention effects were observed in favor of HG for muscle mass (2.1%, p  = 0.024), proximal femur bone mineral density (0.8%, p  = 0.041), Yo-Yo IE1 intermittent endurance test level 1 (IE1) performance (35%, p  < 0.001), and incremental treadmill test performance (11.5%, p  = 0.003), but not total fat mass ( p  = 0.176), mean arterial blood pressure ( p  = 0.328), resting HR ( p  = 0.219), or blood lipids ( p  = 0.298-0.854). In CG, no changes were observed in any of the measured physiological variables after the training period. Compared to CG, HG had an increase in intrinsic motivation ( p  < 0.001) and in the well-being subscale "energy" ( p  = 0.010)., Conclusion: Participation in regular recreational team handball training organized as small-sided games has marked beneficial effects on physical performance, musculoskeletal fitness, well-being, and motivation in untrained young women.