Effects of Walking Football on the physical health of men and women over 50 years old
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12820/rbafs.30e0421Keywords:
Older adults, Aging, Sports, HealthAbstract
Objective: This study investigated the effects of Walking Football practice on physical fitness and body mass index in individuals over 50 years old, considering possible influences of participants’ gender and age. Methods: The participants had no previous experience with the sport. The training protocol lasted 16 weeks, with two weekly sessions of 120 minutes each, totaling 240 minutes per week, distributed across 32 sessions. Assessments were conducted at weeks 0, 8, and 16, using physical tests from the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance protocol to evaluate coordination, flexibility, agility, strength, and endurance. Results: The 35 participants (11 men and 24 women, 67.7 ± 5.5 years old) showed significant improvements on the coordination (p < 0.001; η² = 0.10), agility (p < 0.001; η² = 0.07), flexibility (p < 0.001; η² = 0.03), and upper-limb strength tests (p < 0.001; η² = 0.16) at weeks 8 and 16 compared to baseline. Lower limb strength improved at week 8 but returned to baseline values at the end of the training. No significant changes were observed in endurance or in body mass index. Furthermore, performance changes were not influenced by participants’ age or gender. Conclusion: The findings highlight that Walking Football, when practiced with a weekly volume of at least 120 minutes, can be an effective strategy for maintaining and enhancing physical fitness in individuals aged 50 years and older.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Júlia Barreira, Maria Eduarda Saia, Ana Beatriz Chaves Vasconcelos Batista, Demerval Souza, Daniel Castro, Ademir Aparecido da Cunha, João Pedro Santos de Oliveira, Ricardo Leme
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