According to The International Osteoporosis Foundation, 20 percent of men above the age of 50 will develop osteoporosis each year.

In the United States, around 2 million men, and about 20 percent of men above the age of 50, suffer from osteoporosis. The symptoms of the disease include shrinkage in height, diminished mobility, diminished ability to put weight on or to move a limb, acute spinal pain, spinal malformation, and frequent fractures. Regrettably, medical practitioners can fail to identify the problem insofar as they believe the disease is mainly exclusive to women.

Soccer (aka football) training involves diverse body movements that are both repetitive and high intensity. So it is not surprising that researcherspublishing in the Journal of Sports and Health Science report that the bones of men aged 65-80 who had been playing soccer regularly as amateurs, as well as elite soccer players aged 18-30 years, were much healthier than those of their peers who had not been playing the sport.

Specifically, the bones of those who regularly played soccer were much denser than the bones of peers who did not play.

Bone mineral density values in elderly men who were regularly playing soccer were higher both for the leg (proximal femur) and for the entire body than these values in elderly men who did not. Elderly men who played soccer regularly even had a higher leg bone mineral content, a higher whole body bone mineral content, and a higher leg bone mineral density than did men aged 18-30 years old who did not play the sport. This although the average age difference between groups was nearly 50 years!

The differences between elite soccer players aged 18-30 and peers who did not play were even more striking. And these younger players were also found to have much higher concentrations of osteocalcin and P1NP than their non playing peers did.

Why do these data matter?

Bone Mineral Density/Bone Mineral Content

According to the NIH’s National Institute of Arthritis and Muskuloskeletal and Skin Disease, bone mineral density values reflect levels of calcium and other minerals in the bones. Higher levels of these minerals lead to denser bones and thus can prevent breakage and delay or prevent osteoporosis. (Bone mineral density is the bone density content divided by the area of the region studied.)

Osteocalcin

According to the journal Cell, Osteocalcin helps regulate metabolism. It can prompt pancreatic cells to release insulin, prompt fat cells to become more sensitive to insulin, provide more energy to the muscles, stimulate fertility in men, and improve functioning of the brain—for instance of memory and learning.

P1NP

Procollagen type 1 N propeptide values indicate the rate at which new bones are formed.[see here]

Take Aways

For young men considering the benefits of beginning to play soccer as an amateur, the evidence is strong that by doing so they will gain significant health benefits throughout their lifetimes. Indeed, in their later years they should be more fit than they are today…or even more fit than people 50 years their junior! For elderly men who have regularly played soccer, the evidence suggests that their bones will be much stronger than those of their nonplaying peers and that therefore they are well suited to continue playing the sport they love.

For anyone taking up or remaining committed to this demanding and exhilarating sport, chapeau! Our hats are off to you!

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