Cardiovascular and metabolic health effects of team handball training in overweight women: Impact of prior experience

Purpose We tested the hypothesis that participation in small‐sided team handball training could provide beneficial effects on cardiovascular and metabolic parameters in overweight premenopausal women with special focus on the importance of prior team handball experience. Methods A 16‐week RCT training intervention was conducted in overweight premenopausal women randomized into three groups: a team handball training group without prior experience (UN; n = 13), a team handball group with prior experience (EXP; n = 10), and an inactive control group (CON; n = 9). Both UN and EXP completed 1.6 ± 0.3 training sessions per week with average heart rates of 84 ± 5 and 85 ± 9% of maximal heart rate, respectively. Cardiovascular and metabolic parameters were assessed before and after the intervention. Results Compared to CON, UN had significant increases in VO2max (7 ± 4%) and intermittent endurance performance (26 ± 14%) as well as reduced total fat mass (4 ± 6%), total fat percentage (4 ± 5%), and android fat mass (7 ± 12%), respectively (all P