It is always said that practicing some type of sport is good for both physical and mental health. For many people, doing sports is mandatory or has to be forced since they have a sedentary lifestyle. Physical exercise improves mental function, autonomy, speed, and the feeling of general well-being that helps us to have both better health and better image.
In this article we are going to explain what the benefits of sport.
Sport and lifestyle
For many, sport is part of their lifestyle. There are those who practice soccer, basketball, tennis or simply know how to run or like some disciplines such as Crossfit or weight lifting. There are those who think that those who are in the gym to gain muscle mass or lose fat do not do sports. However, they are disciplines that help improve physical and mental performance and achieve the goal you set for yourself. Healthy goals such as gaining muscle mass, improving athletic performance, improving physical endurance, strength, or losing excess fat.
There are also those who simply go to the gym to "get in shape." Physical exercise must be carried out through previously proposed activity programs. You cannot start training or playing a sport without any planning. If, for example, you have decided to gain muscle mass in the gym, you must plan both your diet and your training. There are thousands of variables to take into account to adapt planning to your level and your goal. If you are a beginner, you should train with a volume, intensity and frequency that suits your response and recovery capacity. Therefore, personal trainers do a good job in this area.
In the interaction that will take place between the body with space and time through movement, many learnings can be built on the human being. This learning is achieved with the succession of educational experiences and the internalization of sports practice. This is, a person cannot perform technique well in exercises or play a sport perfectly the first time, but it is an experience that is acquired little by little with the passage of time and continuous practice.
This is one of the main mistakes people make when they start playing a sport. They hope to achieve the correct plan and perfection that does not exist. Later, they realize that it is more important to be consistent in time than they seek a non-existent perfection.
Benefits of sport on physical and mental health
The world health organization estimates that between 9% and 16% of deaths that occur in developed countries are due to lack of physical exercise. This is what we call sedentary life. The health status of people is a fundamental factor that is combined with other determinants such as age, nutritional status, genetic endowment, stress and tobacco. These variables are what make up the physical health of a person outside of sport. If a person's lifestyle is healthy, combined with sports, it can have a synergistic effect. Let's see the main points of benefits of sport in health:
- Playing sports frequently helps lower your resting heart rate. This helps that the heart does not beat so many beats per minute or that, when we make an effort, the amount of blood we expel in each beat increases. This causes us to have better oxygenation in the brain and our muscles work better in response to the response.
- Stimulates circulation within the heart muscle causing blood pressure to be lowered and blood circulation increased in all muscles.
- Decreases clot formation within the arteries which helps us to have fewer strokes and cerebral thrombosis.
- Many women are concerned with the appearance of varicose veins even from a young age. By improving circulation with sports, we prevent the appearance of varicose veins since we improve venous functioning.
- When we do physical exercise we are also increasing the body's ability to take advantage of the oxygen that comes to it through circulation. This acts on the metabolism and the activity of muscle enzymes.
- For those who are overweight, physical exercise helps increase fat intake during physical activity. This contributes to much sought after fat loss and muscle toning.
- Improves glucose tolerance favoring the treatment of diabetes.
- For those with high cholesterol levels, physical exercise can help lower bad cholesterol and increase good cholesterol.
- Although many think it is unrelated, one of the benefits of sport is that collaborates in the maintenance of a full sexual life.
- Let's not forget that by doing sports we will strengthen structures such as bones, ligaments, tendons and cartilage, improving the function of the entire skeletal muscle system and improving the quality of life.
Benefits of sport on psychological aspect
Although it is not directly correlated, there is evidence that people who perform physical activity frequently in their lives have an easier time quitting tobacco than those who do not perform any type of physical activity.
Sport also has other benefits on psychological aspects such as:
- Increases the feeling of well-being and reduces mental stress. This occurs thanks to the release of endorphins that promote feeling good after exercise.
- It helps reduce the degree of aggressiveness, anxiety, anguish, anger and depression. This is vital for those people who have a busy life and do not know how to manage their emotions well.
- Decreases the feeling of fatigue, giving more energy and ability to do work.
- It facilitates some movements of daily life by improving the locomotor system.
- Last but not least, improves sleep. Rest is almost as important as sport.
I hope that with this information you can learn more about the benefits of sport.