Walking handball as an exercise alternative to conventional walking and recreational team handball

Introduction: Recreational team handball (RTH) improves overall health in inactive men and women, yet certain frail populations may be unable to cope with its demands. For them, walking handball (WH) may be a more appropriate alternative. Thus, this study examined the physical and physiological demands and perceived experience of WH, compared with conventional walking modalities self-paced brisk walking (SPBW) and brisk walking (BW) and RTH, in middle-aged-to-older men with previous RTH experience. Methods: A randomized crossover design was applied where twenty-two participants (71 ± 4 years) performed 8 sessions comprising a 10 min warm-up followed by 5 min of rest and 3 × 15 min periods of either SPBW, BW, WH or RTH (2 sessions each), interspersed with 2-3 min breaks. WH and RTH consisted of 5v5 and 6v6 matches on a 40 × 20 m court. Heart rate (HR), blood lactate, activity profile, rating of perceived exertion (RPE), and fun scores were assessed. Results: < 0.05) in WH vs. SPBW, BW and RTH. Conclusions: : https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT07011290, identifier NCT07011290.