Football society players over the age of 55: how stressful can a match be?

ABSTRACT

This study aimed atassessingthe physical activitylevel, heart rate and the salivary cortisol level of football society players.The sample consisted of 19 male mastersfootballplayerswith an average age of 56.7±3.9 years. The long form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ)andPolar®heart rate monitors were usedas instruments, in additionto Salivette® tubes to measure salivary cortisol. Data analysis was performed by using the repeated measuresAnalysis of Variance (ANOVA) with Bonferroni post hoctest,and Spearman's Rank Correlation Coefficient. The results showed that the salivary cortisol concentration indicated an index of 1.97 ng/ml at the beginning of the match;40 minutes after that thesevalues increased to 8.00 ng/ml,and 60 minutesafter the match had started they reached 8.40 ng/ml. Considering the post-match moment, a moderate and positive correlation between the salivary cortisol concentration and heart rate (averageand maximum) wasseen. In conclusion,the physical effort expended during football Society practice needs to be monitored due to the high heart rate and high increase in the salivary cortisol concentrationofthis age group.