Physical and physiological benefits of small sided recreational handball in untrained males: relationship of body fat with aerobic capacity

Background and Study Aim. Exercise and Recreation play major role in promotion of health and fitness. Recreational exercise or sports can be useful in physically inactive population. The aim of study was to investigate the effect of recreational handball on body fat percent, VO2max, blood pressure and resting heart rate. Another purpose to find relationship between VO2max and body fat percentage. Material and Methods. Twenty-four students were randomized into intervention (n=14) and control group (n=10). The intervention group was asked to play recreational handball for 12 weeks. Handball training was held twice a week for 30 minutes duration. The Control group performed their normal routine. Aerobic capacity measured using single-stage treadmill test. Body fat was measured with Omron Body Fat Analyzer. T-test was employed to find a significant difference in the two groups. For the relationship in aerobic capacity and body fat, Pearson Product Moment Correlation was used. Results. We found significant difference in body percent (t22 = 2.031, P = 0.054). No significant difference was seen in aerobic capacity (t22 = 1.578, P = 0.129), systolic blood pressure (t22 = -1.637, P = 0.116), diastolic blood pressure (t22 = -1.562, P = 0.133) and resting heart rate (t22 = 1.620, P = 0.120). Significant relationship was established between body percent and aerobic capacity (r= -5.23, n=14, p= 0.055) in the intervention group. Conclusions. It can be concluded that recreational handball was useful in eliciting good response with respect to reduction of body fat in intervention group. However, recreation handball sessions were not effective in reducing blood pressure, resting heart and aerobic capacity among untrained males. A significant relationship was observed in VO2max and percent body fat.