Soccer improved fitness in adults with type 2 diabetes
Peak oxygen use increased by 2.80 milliliters per kilogram per minute more with soccer than with usual care over 14 weeks.
Our read
Interventions- Studied:
- Randomized trial in 111 adults with type 2 diabetes, 14 weeks, against usual care (Registered NCT06478173)
- What changed:
- Peak oxygen use increased by 2.80 milliliters per kilogram per minute more with soccer than with usual care
- The catch:
- Lean body mass, the primary outcome, did not differ between groups
- In the record:
- The 60th paper on multicomponent training with results in people; 97 on record in all.
- Why it’s aging research:
- It studies an intervention with evidence of extending healthy life.
Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
Adults aged 40–70 with type 2 diabetes took part in a randomized trial involving 111 people. Researchers assigned 66 to three 60-minute soccer sessions each week for 14 weeks and 45 to usual care. The sessions used games played in small teams.
The exercise group improved more in peak oxygen use, a measure of how much oxygen the body can use during intense exercise. It also improved more on an intermittent running test. The trial detected no between-group difference in lean body mass, its primary outcome, or in fat mass, body fat percentage or average blood sugar. Exploratory tests suggested lower insulin resistance—when the body responds poorly to insulin—but the authors said the metabolic findings needed confirmation.
Why it matters
For middle-aged and older adults with type 2 diabetes, the trial addressed whether team-based exercise could support both physical fitness and lean body mass.
Caveats
The 14-week trial did not establish lasting benefits or effects on diabetes complications. Its findings may not apply beyond adults aged 40–70 with type 2 diabetes; the abstract does not report adverse events.
Where the evidence stands
Multicomponent training
- 36 independent labs in 11 countries
- 5 findings against
- Funders: Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior and others
- 2 of 150 findings with company ties
The paper
Faculty of Health Sciences University of the Faroe Islands Tórshavn Faroe Islands
Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, Nov 5, 2026, CC BY-NC-ND
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