The purpose of this investigation was to determine if a physically active lifestyle affects the health of former football players. Sixty former professional football players aged 40–50 years and who ended their sports career at least ten years ago were recruited for the study and grouped into two groups based on their physical activity habits after their retirement. Health and lifestyle characteristics were collected through a questionnaire to obtain information about recreational physical activity levels, diseases, family medical history, smoking, alcohol intake and dietary habits. Furthermore, lung functions, blood parameters and cardiovascular health were evaluated. Our results showed that body weight and body fat percentage were significantly higher in retired footballers who had a sedentary lifestyle compared to those who were physically active. The absolute and predicted values for forced expiratory volume in one-second values were higher in the active group. Twelve retired athletes were found to have intraventricular conduction delay. The findings suggest that former footballers who have higher levels of physical activity have advanced body composition, respiratory functions and serum lipids compared to former footballers with less active lifestyles. It is recommended that former elite athletes should maintain physically active lifestyles to sustain their health and reduce the risk of disease and disability in the later years of life.

Physical inactivity is a major risk factor for many diseases such as obesity, cardiovascular diseases, diabetics etc. and a major public health concern for children and adults who are physically inactive. It has been reported that increased muscle mass and strength usually improves health-related quality of life. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of sports participation in strength parameters in primary school students in 7th and 8th grade. Data were collected from 56 adolescent aged 13- to 14–yr-old. Students participated physical activities only during physical education classes (NSP) (n = 28, age 13,42 ± 0,50 yr, body mass 50,40 ± 9,19 kg, height 158,57 ± 6,82 cm, body fat percentage 15,00 ± 9,41%) compared with those who also participated physical activities (SP) such as swimming, football, handball, athletics trainings (n = 28, age 13,64 ± 0,48 yr, body mass 53,76 ± 7,60 kg, height 162,03 ± 7,42 cm, body fat percentage 15,99 ± 8,28%) outside of school. The average training years of SP were 5,18 ± 0,39 years. Back strength (BS), leg strength (LS), left (LH) and right (RH) handgrip strengths were measured as strength variables. And also vertical jump power (VP) was calculated from Lewis formula. The BS values were 88,36 ± 34,75 kg and 62,46 ± 19,92 kg, LS values were 95,43 ± 39,26 kg and 72,46 ± 25,05 kg, LH values were 27,99 ± 6,82 kg and 24,85 ± 5,57 kg, RH values were 30,06 ± 7,56 kg and 24,74 ± 7,19 kg, VP values were 68,37 ± 11,82 kg.m/sec and 58,16 ± 11,65 kg.m/sec for SP and NSP, respectively. When comparing to the NSP, SP had higher strength and jump power values (p<0,01). In conclusion, we found that increased levels of sports participation had positive effects on strength parameters in primary school students in 7th and 8th grade.

Background: This study aimed to examine the changes in physical and physiological conditions in elite wrestlers from the Turkish National Wrestling Team, who experienced 14 weeks of restricted physical activity during the COVID-19 lockdown, followed by an 8-week period of retraining and competition. Methods: Twenty male elite wrestlers from the National Greco-Roman Wrestling Team participated in the research. Heart Rate Variability values were measured during the training cessation period and for 8 weeks of subsequent training and then interpreted for training periods with different workloads. Body fat percentage values, initially measured during training cessation, were recorded at 2-week intervals during the training period. To determine the fitness status of wrestlers, the Specific Wrestling Fitness Test was used before and following the 8 weeks of training period. Results: A gradual decrease in both body fat percentage and weight was observed throughout the course of the training period. The SWFT scores showed significant improvements (31.40 ± 2.91 vs. 37.40 ± 3.22) following the training period. Heart rate variability decreased during the detraining period, progressively improved throughout the 8-week retraining, and subsequently declined during the competition phase, reaching levels similar to those observed during training cessation. Conclusions: Our results suggest that athletes undergo identical reactions in their autonomous nervous system during both competition and training cessation period. Obtaining a comprehensive understanding of these changes can enable coaches and athletes to make accurate decisions in order to optimize training adaptations and attain overall athletic success. Furthermore, over a period of eight weeks following a long non-training period, significant improvements in athletes’ body fat, muscle mass and wrestling performance can be achieved along with training. Moreover, HRV monitoring revealed that autonomic nervous system balance was compromised during both the 14-week detraining and the subsequent competition phases, underlining the need for careful training load management to optimize recovery and performance readiness.

This study aimed to evaluate lower extremity alignment in football players with and without genu varum using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and to investigate the underlying mechanisms and contributing factors to malalignment. This prospective case-control study included 36 male football players aged 16–19 years, divided into two groups: 18 with genu varum and 18 controls with normal lower extremity alignment. Full-length lower extremity MRI was used to assess alignment parameters. The isokinetic strength of the concentric knee extensor-flexor and concentric hip abductor-adductor muscles was measured using an isokinetic dynamometer at angular velocities of 60°/sec and 180°/sec. Logistic regression was used to evaluate the risk factors for genu varum. Genu varum group had a mean mechanical axis deviation (MAD) of 14 ± 5 mm (p < 0.001), with 11 players exceeding the clinical cutoff of 15 mm. Significant differences were observed in the lateral distal tibial angle (LDTA) (p = 0.014), lateral proximal femoral angle (LPFA) (p = 0.017), and medial distal femoral angle (mLDFA) (p = 0.002) between the groups. Muscle strength values were comparable between the groups, except for the hip adductor-abductor strength ratio at 60°/sec, which was significantly lower in the genu varum group (p = 0.008), while all other comparisons were non-significant (p > 0.05). The regression analysis demonstrated that the mechanisms responsible for varus alignment in football players differ between the dominant and non-dominant leg. The findings in this study suggest that the proximal tibial deformity is a key factor in malalignment among football players with genu varum. Differences in alignment were observed between dominant and non-dominant legs. Strength values were similar between players with and without varus alignment, except for the 60˚/sec angular velocity Add/Abd ratio. NCT06606964 / 16.09.2024. Level III.