A comparison of two group-based exercise programs (team-sport vs. circuit training) on quality of life in adult men.

Participants will be randomised to one of two exercise groups, a team-sport program (TS) or a group-circuit exercise program (CT). TS is the 'intervention' for this investigation. The exercise session will last 60-minutes and be undertaken twice weekly for 12 weeks. There will be at least 48 hours of recovery between each training session and will occur at the same time of day. Each session will comprise of a 45-minute conditioning phase, which will begin/end with a 5-10-minute warm-up/cool-down. The warm-up/cool-down will consist of light aerobic exercises and dynamic movements/stretches. All sessions will be supervised by a qualified exercise professional. The TS sessions will be focused on developing Australian Football (AF) skills and gameplay. AF was selected as the team-sport focus as it has the potential to attract sedentary Australian males due to its popularity, particularly among middle-aged males, and as it has been found to have the strongest loyalty of all sports within Australia. Given the participant's insufficiently active nature, the first two weeks of the 12-week program will progressively re-introduce exercise and movement and develop participants' capabilities to jog, jump, land, stop, and change direction safely. This is intended to reduce the likelihood of injury. Across week 3 to 12 of the program the first weekly session will be a ‘training session’ that progressively build in physicality and difficulty to teach participants AF skills. The second weekly session will have participants playing a small-sided version of AF, AFL9s. AFL9s features modified rules more appropriate for the physical capacity and skill level of the sedentary individuals (e.g. non-contact, nine-a-side and feature two 20-minute halves). 18 participants will form a training session, and be divided each week into two teams of 9 to play the AFL9s match. For participants' safety, they will be requested to participate at a light-intensity (11/20 rating of perceived exertion (RPE)) before progressing to a moderate intensity (13-14/20 RPE) by week 3-4. This correlates with moderate-intensity which is recommended by the Australian Adult Pre-Exercise Screening System given the participants' low activity levels. Further progression in intensity will be done at the discretion of the Exercise Scientist. Session attendance will be monitored through a session attendance checklist.