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If You Don’t Play Sport Now You’ll Hate Yourself Later |
Everybody knows that exercise is good for them, yet many people choose not to do any form of exercise at all.
I’m about to share my experience of playing sport for fun, and tell you about its benefits that extend way beyond just a healthy body. Did you know that exercise makes you smarter?
Studies Confirm That Sport Makes You Smarter
“One new study suggests there may indeed be a connection between sports and intelligence. Findings from the four-year study at Albion College in Michigan indicate that twice as many children who exercised regularly scored higher in math tests than those who did not.” - Source
“”Exercise in many ways optimizes your brain to learn,” says Dr. John Ratey, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School in Boston who’s at work on a book about exercise and the brain.” - Source
“With colleagues, he rounded up 259 Illinois third and fifth graders, measured their body-mass index and put them through classic PE routines: the “sit-and-reach,” a brisk run and timed push-ups and sit-ups. Then he checked their physical abilities against their math and reading scores on a statewide standardized test. Sure enough, on the whole, the kids with the fittest bodies were the ones with the fittest brains, even when factors such as socioeconomic status were taken into account.” - Source
Some Of The Many Benefits Of Playing Sport
Obvious Health Benefits
The most obvious benefit of playing sport is that it is good for your body and will contribute to your good health. Your heart and lungs get strengthened, your blood and oxygen is circulated through your body, your muscles are trained, fat is burned, your skin is cleaned through presperation and toxins and waste are removed from your body.
Good health is an essential part of a good and enjoyable life, so that is one reason why playing sport is good for you!
Reduce or Remove Stress
Our daily lives are full of external sources that give us stress, like our jobs, driving on the road, relationships, business etc. Stress is very bad for the body and mind, and a really good way to get rid of stress is by exercising and playing sport. After exercising, endorphins are released into the bloodstream (the feel-good hormone) and your muscles are often no longer tense.
Meet People
A great way to meet new people is by playing sport. Your shared interest for the game is something you have in common and thus you are not total strangers to each other. There will always be opportunities to play with or against somebody else, and often it is quite possible to form friendships or business relationships with these people.
Strengthen Relationships
You can strengthen a current relationship or bond that you have with somebody by playing sport with them. Whether it be a friend, a colleague, a business partner or your lover, the activity of having fun and playing the same game together often works to bring you closer together. It is an experience that they do not share with many others, and that adds value to your relationship with them.
Encourage Creativity
When the body is healthy and stress-free, creativity and ideas seem to come more natural. Not only is this proven by studies around the world, I have also personally experienced it. I feel good and relaxed after working out or playing sport, and this often allows me to be creative, work harder or more focused and get a lot more done.
Have Fun
An often over-looked benefit of playing sport is that it is fun. You have one life, and I think it’s best to have as much fun as possible. having fun doesn’t mean taking vacation, because it is very possible to have fun while you work, while you exercise or while you do boring chores.
Tennis – The Sport Of My Choice
I love playing tennis. I learnt how to play in primary school but stopped playing for quite a few years. Recently, a few friends of mine were keen to play tennis and that is how I got back into it.
The reason why I enjoy tennis so much is because it requires skill and only needs two players. This means that it is very easy to just invite someone to play and meet them at the courts. You also don’t need to be incredibly fit to play tennis, and it takes a lot of skill to become good at serving and hitting unreturnable shots.
It’s also pretty fun to watch tennis on TV, especially when you know how difficult it actually is to play in real life. Watching the best of the world compete in massive tournaments like Wimbledon is absolutely amazing.
There are of course lots of sports that are enjoyable, and besides tennis I enjoy sports like squash, hockey, soccer, martial arts, running and swimming. Whatever the sport is that you want to choose, there are always many people available to play with. I prefer sports that I can do alone or with just a few people, because it makes the orginizational aspect of playing a game so much easier.
Be Healthy And Smart – Play Sport
This post is for all of you who are not doing exercise or playing sport on a regular basis. I hope that I have given you some inspiration to get out there and join a club or start playing a sport. If you are not sure what sport you will enjoy, start with tennis. It’s easy to learn, fun to play and I am certain that you know somebody that will want to play a few games with you.
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Hey Diggy,
About 5 years ago, I decided I wanted to live a healthy lifestyle and as part of it, I will always have a sporting activity I would do. In these years, I moved from jogging, to swimming, to salsa dancing.
Now that I’ve gotten used to this kind of lifestyle, I feel, I see and I experience its benefits for myself, it makes me laugh when I think of all the out of shape people out there, who’s most intensive physical activity is going to the supermarket.
Cheers,
Hey Eduard!
Good to hear that you are living a life filled with exercise and good health. Yeah, all those couch potatoes…I wonder how incredibly overweight people can happily be sitting at Mcdonalds polishing off a few burgers. Why do they not use their bad shape as motivation to get healthy and lose the weight?
I hope to inspire some people to get in shape:)
Cheers!
There are obvious benefits for playing sports and one more thing to add is that it is fun!
Cheers,
Vincent
Cheers Vincent!
Hope all is good on your side!
Nice Post. There are many benefits of playing sports. It also helps Strengthen Relationships with people.
Btw. It’s much more than fun:).
Thanks for sharing this great post.
Hey Dev!
You’re welcome, glad to hear you enjoyed it!
real interesting… I SUCKED at sports growing up, and I was never really “book smart–it all makes sense now!
If I were to play sports now-a-days, out of your list.. it would be to meet others, strengthen relationships, and to have fun, i hope.
Hah
Cheers Diggy!
–Parker
Hey Parker!
Thanks for stopping by!
I certainly hope you are doing some form of exercise like gym, cycling or running to keep body and mind fit and healthy!
Do you consider bike riding when doing it alone an actual sport? What about going to the gym? The fact is both of these keep me fit and healthy and also allow me time to think.
I get a great buzz from training it makes you feel alive
Health body – healthy mind
Nice post Diggy
Dan
Hey Daniel!
Well, they are maybe not sports in the traditional sense, but they are definitely good exercise so I would place them in the same category. Like you say, they give the same benefits, they strengthen your body and give you time to think, and that is what counts!
Thanks for stopping by!
Hmmm, I never thought about the relationship aspect.
I do only some wake up moves in the morning – Street fighter style. It looks stupid, but keeps the body moving and makes me ready for action.
I do tennis as well, table tennis that is.
Hey, you need quick reflexes for that sport.
Hey Mars!
Haha, table tennis is pretty cool. I’ve seen it on olympic level and it’s insane!
As long as you do some form of regular exercise it’s all good! Thanks for stopping by!
Hey man – I think tenis suits you as a sport – you’ve got that movie star look lol
I prefer basketball and pumping iron or my bodyweight
I really like how you push health/fitness on your site Diggy!
Yavor
Hey Yavor!
Thanks bro!
The body is the temple of the soul and the vessel we have to go through life. I think health and fitness are essential to a long and happy life and are a big part of self improvement. I like your site too, you should write more often!:)
Hmmm. Great discussion and in my opinion, exercise and sports certainly have huge benefits but I have never “hated” myself for not having either the chance or the desire to participate in them….I think yoga is competitive enough for me and it’s definitely not a sport….Is that too combative? Hey maybe I’d have made a good team mate on a sports team
!
Hey Farnoosh!
I don’t think it’s bad if you don’t like or play traditional sports as such, as long as you do some form of exercise regularly. yoga, dancing, martial arts…they are all examples of exercise that can tone your body, keep you slim and fit and give the same benefits as any other sport.
You look good from what I can see:)
Great post. Along with the obvious health benefits of increasing your metabolism, burning of fat, etc., it is also vital to having healthy, strong bones. If you’re not exercising regularly or playing sports where your entire body is in motion – there are serious long-term risks for your bones when you’re older.
And for the other comments, sports do not necessarily have to be competitive; there are many alternatives out there where you can simply have fun while getting a good workout and improving your longevity.
Hey Jason!
Thanks!
The points you mention are all valid. I’m trying to think but I can’t really recall any old people (80′s plus) who are fat? There is definitely a relationship between fitness, exercise and old age.
Hi Diggy! How are you? Swimming is my election sport until now. Actually I am going to swimming pool two days per week. I exchanged fitness in gym by swimming because I always loved being on water regardless of I already know how to swim, it is a very complete sport, works with several muscles at the same time, makes everyone breathe better and then gives a fine sense of relaxation! But I have a list of sports I want play during my whole life and the next ones on the list are tennis and pilates (I am really excited about trying this ones). I think become passionate about one sport/activity is the pre-requesite everyone shoud have in order to catching all the benefits of playing sports as you wrote.
Stay well
Hey Tania!
I’m doing great thanks, how are you doing?
Ahh, swimming is an awesome sport and as you say it trains so many muscles! If you are lucky enough to have a pool near you then yes, swim a few times a week! I really love tennis, so if you ever start playing and come down to SA let me know, we can have a game:)
Hey Diggy, nice post! I agree that playing sports is really beneficial to our health such as relieving stress, gaining more energy, and having more mental clarity.
Recently I went to play basketball (I haven’t played in a long time because a lot of my time was devoted to blogging) at the park. Right when I got in the court, someone I didn’t know yelled and asked me if I wanted to play. I said sure. The next thing I knew was that I really sucked.
But I’m glad I played anyway because the people were cool and I felt a lot better afterwards. I need to go play more and this post has motivated me to do so. Thanks man. Oh yeah, the French Open is here!
Hey Hulbert!
Haha yeah the friendships that get formed through sport are amazing. The sport just bonds people together with a common love of the game.
Will be watching the final games of the French Open!
Thanks for stopping by:)
Glad to see another spreading the word about how good sports and exercise are
I can never get enough them. It’s such a good feeling to accomplish a race or hit the perfect volleyball serve. I just did a race in a half marathon trail run today. It may seem like a lot but after you’ve done a 30k run, 21km doesn’t seem like that much. Do 10 and 5 doesn’t seem like much.
Oh and it’s definitely my favorite stress reliever. It’s you against yourself when running.
Hey Ross!
I have never ever done half a marathon, most is 10km I think. Congrats to you:)
Running is one of my fav things to do, it frees the mind and strengthens the body!
Thanks for stopping by!
Have an awesome day!
Great post. You include your personal experience and enthusiasm, with the benefits supported by great research-related articles.
If we don’t take care of our bodies, who will? You can’t delegate your exercise! OR your enjoyment of life!
Tom @tomsuniversity
Hey Tom!
Thank you:) Glad to hear that you enjoyed the article!
Keep well and stay healthy!
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