LIPIDEMIC PROFILE OF MEN PARTICIPATING IN RECREATIONAL TEAM SPORTS AND INACTIVE MEN

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of exercise in the form of recreational team sports on resting lipidemic factors of healthy young men. Thirty-four healthy men, 20-37 years old, volunteered to participate in the research. The subjects were separated in two groups, exercisers who participated regularly during the last six months in recreational team sports such as volleyball, basketball and football (Group A, n=17) and inactive men who did not exercise regularly, with a frequency of more than 1 hour per fortnight during the last six months (Group B, n=17). Measurements of anthropomorphological and hemodynamic characteristics were taken place. For the evaluation of lipidemic profile, triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein (LDL) and high density lipoprotein (HDL) at rest were measured, while ratios TC/HDL and LDL/HDL were estimated. For data analysis, descriptive statistics and independent samples t-tests of the SPSS ver. 20.0 for windows was used. The results showed that hemodynamic state of exercisers is better than that of inactive men, since they have lower heart rate (64.82+15.23 vs 69.41+11.61 bpm), systolic blood pressure (114+10.58 vs 115.35+12.90 mmHg), and diastolic blood pressure (72.06+10.91 vs 78.65+12.13 mmHg) at rest. In addition, there were observed significantly more increased HDL (+29.25%, p<0.01), but significantly more decreased TG (-37.87%, p=0.05), TC (-16.84%, p<0.01), LDL (-22.38%, p<0.01), TC/HDL (-35.99%, p<0.001) and LDL/HDL (-44.56%, p<0.001) in the group of young men who participate in regular exercise in the form of team sports compared with the group of young men who didn’t participate in any exercise. Thus, from the results of the present study it is obvious that regular participation in recreational team sports improves participants’ lipidemic profile, which may be a favourable effect for cardiovascular system. Consequently, exercise programs in the form of recreational team sports such as football, volleyball and basketball are recommended for young men, in order to be achieved engagement and adherence to an exercise program aiming on health benefits, especially concerning blood lipids