Research Article Physical and Physiological Demands of Recreational Team Handball for Adult Untrained Men Susana C. A. Póvoas, 1 Carlo Castagna, 2,3 Carlos Resende, 4,5 Eduardo Filipe Coelho, 6 Pedro Silva, 4,7 Rute Santos, 4,7,8 André Seabra, 7 Juan Tamames, 9 Mariana Lopes, 4,7 Morten Bredsgaard Randers, 10 and Peter Krustrup 10,11 1 Research Center in Sports Sciences, Health Sciences and Human Development, CIDESD, University Institute of Maia, ISMAI, Maia, Portugal 2 Fitness Training and Biomechanics Laboratory, Italian Football Federation, Technical Department, Coverciano, Florence, Italy 3 School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy 4 University Institute of Maia, ISMAI, Maia, Portugal 5 Center of Research, Education, Innovation and Intervention in Sport, Faculty of Sport, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal 6 Portuguese Handball Federation, Lisbon, Portugal 7 Research Center in Physical Activity, Health and Leisure, Faculty of Sport, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal 8 Early Start Research Institute, School of Education, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia 9 Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal 10 Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics, SDU Sport and Health Sciences Cluster (SHSC), University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark 11 Sport and Health Sciences, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK Correspondence should be addressed to Susana C. A. P´ ovoas; spovoas@ismai.pt Received 30 October 2016; Revised 26 January 2017; Accepted 6 February 2017; Published 29 March 2017 Academic Editor: Laura Guidetti Copyright © 2017 Susana C. A. P´ ovoas et al. his is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Lack of motivation to exercise was reported as a major cause of sedentary behavior in adulthood. his descriptive study examines the acute physical and physiological demands of recreational team handball and evaluates whether it could be suggested as an exercise mode for itness and health enhancement in 33–55-year-old untrained men. Time-motion, heart rate (HR), and blood lactate analyses were obtained from 4 recreational matches. Mean distance covered during the 60 min matches was 6012 ± 428 m. he players changed match activity 386 ± 70 times, of which high-intensity runs and unorthodox movements amounted to 59 ± 18 and 26 ± 26 per match, respectively. he most frequent highly demanding playing actions were jumps and throws. Match average and peak HR were 82 ± 6% and 93 ± 5% HR max , respectively. Players exercised at intensities between 81 and 90% HR max for 47% (28 ± 14 min) and >90% HR max for 24% (14 ± 15 min) of total match time. Match average and peak blood lactate values were 3.6 ± 1.3 and 4.2 ± 1.2 mM, respectively. Recreational team handball is an intermittent high-intensity exercise mode with physical and physiological demands in the range of those found to have a positive efect on aerobic, anaerobic, and musculoskeletal itness in adult individuals. Training studies considering recreational team handball as a health enhancing intervention are warranted. 1. Introduction Exercise has been established as a cornerstone in the preven- tion and treatment of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases [1] and physical activity (PA) primarily prevents, or delays, several chronic conditions [2]. Yet, a third of the adults worldwide do not reach the recommended levels for daily PA [3] and only 8% of the European population report exercising or playing sport regularly, whereas 20% indicate lack of interest or motivation as one of the causes for not practicing sport more frequently [4]. Physical inactivity was shown to be responsible for 5.3 million deaths per year worldwide [5]; Hindawi BioMed Research International Volume 2017, Article ID 6204603, 10 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/6204603