Exercise: Soccer Tops Jogging Hands Down

Geezer, whose over 50 soccer team swept its division last season, is unclear about why it took so long and a team of Danish researchers to figure out that playing soccer is better exercise than jogging. Jogging? Geezer has to laugh. The L.A. Times reports that a study conducted at the University of Copenhagen evaluated the effects of three hours per week of soccer,
jogging or no exercise, among 37 randomly assigned sedentary males. After 12 weeks, the paper reports, subjects in the soccer group
had lost 7.3 pounds of fat as measured using specialized X-ray imaging,
compared with 4 pounds among joggers (there was no change in the
control group). The soccer group also gained 3.7 pounds in muscle,
while the joggers did not gain measurably in muscle. The Times reports that both groups
logged significant improvements in insulin sensitivity, as measured by
an oral glucose tolerance test, and in balance, as measured in several
ways, including a one-legged balance test. Both groups also had
significantly lowered heart rate during a treadmill test.
The
soccer group posted a significant reduction in so-called "bad" LDL
cholesterol, while the jogging group’s cholesterol was unchanged (HDL
was not significantly changed in any of the groups). And finally, the
soccer group’s sprint time was significantly better, while the jogging
group’s scores were unchanged. The control group showed no changes in any of the measurements.
Read more in the L.A. Times.