Clustered Cardiometabolic Risk and Arterial Stiffness of Recreational Adult Tennis Players

BACKGROUND: Recent evidence highlights racquet sports as being associated with a substantially reduced risk of CVD mortality. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate clustered cardiometabolic risk (CMR) and arterial stiffness in recreational adult tennis players. METHODS: Forty-three recreational tennis players (T) and a matched group of 45 healthy, active non-tennis (NT) players, mean age (± SEM) 41.6 ± 1.8 years participated. CMR was assessed by cluster analysis incorporating emerging and traditional CVD risk factors. Arterial stiffness was determined through pulse wave analysis/velocity. RESULTS: Analysis of covariance, controlling for age, revealed T had significantly lower (healthier) CMR scores than NT, using a cluster of: central aortic systolic blood pressure, carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, percentage body fat, HDL-C and maximal oxygen uptake (EMM ± SEM, T: -0.48 ± 0.3 vs NT: 0.50 ± 0.3, P = 0.03). Similarly, T also demonstrated lower clustered CMRs for the traditional composite of brachial systolic blood pressure, triglycerides, TC:HDL-C, percentage body fat, HbA1c and maximal oxygen uptake (EMM, T: -0.66 ± 0.4 vs NT: 0.59 ± 0.4, P = 0.04). Augmentation index of the pulse pressure wave, normalised to heart rate 75 bpm (AIx75), was lower in T vs NT (EMM, T: 10.7 ± 1.7% vs NT: 12.7 ± 1.6%; P = 0.03), when controlling for age and gender. CONCLUSIONS: Tennis appears to be a suitable and effective physical activity modality for targetting cardiometabolic and vascular health and should be more frequently advocated in physical activity promotion strategies