Soccer > Jogging

Arthur De Vany would like this study:

Soccer burns more fat than jogging
Soccer is not just a game of fun. A new research project from Department of Exercise and Sport Sciences shows that a game of soccer two to three times a week is profoundly health-improving. As a matter of fact, the beneficial effects are so massive that it can even be considered more healthy to kick the ball than to put on your jogging shoes and go for a run.

The experiment
Sports scientist Peter Krustrup and his colleagues have followed a soccer team consisting of 14 untrained men aged 20 to 40 years. For a period of 3 months, the players have been subjected to a number of tests such as fitness ratings, total mass of muscles, percentage of fat, blood pressure, insulin sensitivity and balance.

In parallel with the soccer-experiment, the research group did the same tests on a group of joggers as well as on a passive control group.

Surprising results
- 2-3 weekly rounds of soccer practise, of the duration of app. 1 hour, released massive health and training benefits. Their percentage of fat went down, the total mass of muscle went up, their blood pressure fell and their fitness ratings improved significantly. Everything we tested improved, says Peter Krustrup.

The joggers also trained 2-3 times a week, but their efforts showed smaller effect than that of the soccer players.

After 12 weeks, the soccer players had lost 3.5 kilos of fat and gained more than 2 kilos of extra muscle mass, whereas the joggers had lost 2 kilos of fat and showed no change in total muscle mass. Both groups showed significant improvements in blood pressure, insulin sensitivity and balance. The sports scientist believes that it is the shifts between walking, running and sprinting that causes the soccer players to experience better health improvements.

- Soccer is an all-round form of practise because it both keeps the pulse up and has many high-intensity actions. When you sprint, jump and tackle your opponents, you use all the fibres in your muscles. When you jog at a moderate pace, you only use the slow fibres, says Peter Krustrup.