Football Fitness: the Danish grannies soccer team that’s part of a global health revolution
- The oldest player is 85, the youngest 55, there are no tackles and few rules – this is recreational soccer with a focus on fun, socialising and boosting health
- These grannies practise Football Fitness, a Danish sports concept that uses soccer training to promote physical activity and limit lifestyle diseases
In the Danish town of Frederikssund is a soccer club. It is, like many Danish clubs, the hub of a tight-knit community and, while it boasts several teams of all ages, one particular team has earned itself a place on the world map of sports science.
“Momseholdet”, or grannies team, consists of women above the age of 60. They meet every Thursday come rain or shine to practice Football Fitness, an all-Danish concept which is gaining a foothold in several countries around the world.
Soccer is the world’s most popular sport, with an estimated 500 million players worldwide, 300 million of which are registered in clubs. Sport and health sciences professor Peter Krustrup from the University of Southern Denmark in Odense borrowed key elements of the sport to invent Football Fitness in collaboration with the Danish Football Association.
Krustrup, who is also a visiting professor at Shanghai University of Sport and Beijing Sport University, has been researching soccer and health for 15 years. Studies have shown that Football Fitness can be used for the effective prevention and treatment of several lifestyle diseases, including cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.
People of all ages and both sexes, with or without soccer experience, and regardless of their level of physical fitness can take part in Football Fitness, an intense and versatile form of training that combines endurance, aerobic high-intensity interval (HIIT) and strength training.