Health benefits associated with the Hockey Fans in Training® program for overweight men who are university hockey fans

Objective. - The main objective of the study was to explore the adherence and objective health changes following the HFIT (R) in a group of men fans of a lower hockey level (e.g. low number of fans). Equipment and methods. - A total of 37 male university hockey team fans aged 35-65 having a body mass index >= 27 kg/m(2) participated in the 12-week HFIT (R) that included weekly group education about changes in lifestyle and exercise sessions. At baseline and after 12 weeks, physical activity level (pedometer), caloric intake (24-hour recall), anthropometric measures, body composition, cardiorespiratory fitness, fasting blood glucose and lipid profiles, and blood pressure were objectively measured. In addition, quality of life and symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress were measured via self-report questionnaire. Results. - A drop-out rate of 16% was observed with 31 participants (47 symbolscript 10 years) completing the intervention. Both completers and intention-to-treat analyses showed significant improvements for all objective outcomes (all P < 0.05) with the exception of blood pressure and lipids panels. Participants reported an improvement in quality of life, but not in depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms. Conclusion. - The findings confirm the benefits of the HFIT (R) program using a variety of objective measures among university hockey team fans. It is thus plausible that this program leads to improvements in the health of hockey fans for teams in rural areas. (C) 2021 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.