Influences of Recreational Tennis-Playing Exercise Time on Cardiometabolic Health Parameters in Healthy Elderly: The ExAMIN AGE Study

Background: Aging and chronic degeneration are the primary threats to cardiometabolic health in elderly populations. Regular appropriate exercise would benefit the advanced aging population. Purpose: This study investigates whether the degree of weekly tennis participation exhibits differences in primary cardiometabolic parameters, including arterial stiffness, inflammation, and metabolic biomarkers in elderly tennis players. Methods: One hundred thirty-five long-term participants in elder tennis (>50 years old) were initially screened. Twenty-six eligible and voluntary subjects were divided into high tennis time group (HT) (14 ± 1.3 h/week) and low tennis time group (LT) (4.5 ± 0.7 h/week) by stratification analysis based on the amount of tennis playing activity time. The brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV), blood pressure, ankle-brachial index (ABI), blood metabolic biomarkers, and insulin resistance were measured to compare the difference between HT and LT groups. Results: The baPWV was significantly lower in the HT group than that in the LT group (1283.92 ± 37.01 vs. 1403.69 ± 53.71 cm/s, p < 0.05). We also found that the HT insulin-resistant homeostasis model assessment (HOMA-IR) was significantly lower than that of LT (1.41 ± 0.11 vs. 2.27 ± 0.48 μIU/mL, p < 0.05). However, the blood lipid biomarkers (glucose, cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglyceride) were not statistical different between HT and LT groups (p > 0.05). Conclusion: We demonstrated that under the condition of similar daily physical activity level, elderly with a higher time of tennis-playing (HT group) exhibited relatively lower arterial stiffness (lower PWV) and lower insulin resistance compared to those with lower time tennis-playing (LT).