Benefits of soccer revealed

A FRIENDLY game of soccer works off more fat and builds up more muscle than jogging, a study has found.

Danish scientists, who conducted their research on 37 men, also found the soccer players felt less tired after exercising than the joggers because they were having more fun.

The researchers strapped monitors to their chests and compared blood samples and muscle tissue before and after matches and jogging sessions.

The researchers selected men aged 31 to 33 and split them into groups of soccer players and joggers.

The exercise lasted about one hour and took place three times a week. After 12 weeks, researchers found the body fat percentage in the soccer players dropped by 3.7%, compared to about 2% for the joggers.

The soccer players increased their muscle mass by almost 2 kilograms (4.5 pounds), whereas the joggers didn’t have any significant change.

“There were periods in the game so intense — their cardiovascular was maximally taxed, just like professional football players,” said Dr Peter Krustrup, head of Copenhagen University’s department of exercise and sport sciences.

Krustrup and his colleagues found at times during soccer matches, the players’ hearts were pumping at 90% their full capacity. But the joggers’ hearts were never pushed as hard.

Dr Krustrup said: “The soccer players were having more fun, so they were more focused on scoring goals and helping the team, rather than the feeling of strain and muscle pain.”