Elderly Men Boost Their Health By Playing Soccer Two Hours A Week

They may not be able to bend it like former British footballer David Beckham, but men in their sixties and seventies reap remarkable fitness rewards by playing soccer, according to Danish research. Soccer is not only a fun social activity, it is also an effective form of high-intensity interval training. Inactive, untrained men 63 to 75 years old improved maximum oxygen uptake by 15 percent and performance during interval exercise by as much as 50 percent by playing soccer for just one hour twice a week for four months. In addition, muscle function improved 30 percent and bone mineralization in the femoral neck increased by two percent. “Intense training such as soccer can change the lives of elderly men," the researchers noted.