The effects of floorball on cardiovascular fitness and body composition of young adults

The purpose of the study was to compare cardiovascular fitness and body composition measures before and after 7 weeks of floorball versus steady state exercise (SSE) in healthy adolescents. Specifically, this study determined differences in maximal oxygen uptake, heart rate, rate of perceived exertion, body mass index, waist circumference, body fat, and enjoyment between floorball and SSE. Steady state exercise included walking and running on a treadmill. The study involved 31 male and female participants who were assigned to either the floorball (n = 14) or the SSE group (n = 17). Maximal oxygen consumption, body mass index, waist circumference, and percent body fat were measured in the beginning and at the end of the study. Both of the groups met twice a week for 40 min. Exercise sessions included a 5-min warm-up and cool down, 20 min of exercise for the floorball (FRBL) group, and 30 min of exercise for the SSE group. The participants in the FRBL group played floorball for 2 min followed by 1 min of rest. The SSE group exercised on a treadmill at 60-85% of HRR. Heart rate, rate of perceived exertion, and perceived enjoyment of exercise were measured throughout the exercise sessions. Mixed design MANOVA or ANOVAs were used to analyze the data with a significance level of .05. Maximal oxygen uptake increased significantly in the FRBL group (pre: 38.21 ± 7.94 ml/kg/min, post: 39.91 ± 7.55 ml/kg/min), whereas the SSE group did not see a significant increase (pre: 37.72 ± 7.53 ml/kg/min, post: 38.09 ± 7.55 ml/kg/min) following the 7-week intervention. A significant group main effect for peak HR across the 7 weeks of exercise was found (main effect means = 187.9 ± 5.7 and 175.0 ± 4.5 bpm for FRBL and SSE, respectively) but not for average HR. There were no significant improvements in any of the body composition measures. This study demonstrated that floorball can be an efficient means of improving cardiovascular fitness with normal to overweight young adults.