10 Sports that you love will help you get in shape

Bored of hitting the gym every day this summer? Or Whether you’ve been crazy busy at work, got caught up in a daily routine, put on a couple kilos or just simply lost your motivation to exercise, you might feel the need to get back into shape and lead a healthy lifestyle again so you can rock your abs when you hit the beach next time.

Getting fit and healthy is about building good habits and keeping your energy levels balanced, in other words putting the right foods and drinks in your body then burning those calories off through physical activity.

Fitness can be achieved through fun sports too. There are several fun sports that can help you achieve great health and fitness. We will share a list of top 10 sports you can play to maintain your fitness.

Tennis: The health benefits of playing tennis are often lost when compared to more traditional physical activities like running, swimming and cycling. However, many folks might not realize that playing tennis for one hour burns about 600 calories, making it as effective as jogging or an indoor cycling class. And the beauty of tennis is that it challenges your mind and your body.

 

The tactical aspect of the game keeps your mind occupied while your body gets a good workout—the short term goals of reaching that little yellow ball in time makes it a complex sport full of small rewards and limitless challenges.

 

Football: Football or soccer is one of the best sports, as it engages players to run fast and slow - with sudden balance shifts. This helps to build stamina and works for interval training too. Being a continuous game, it is extremely effective for fitness and cardiovascular health.

Various benefits of playing football are it is generally a non-contact sport, teaches coordination, promotes teamwork and sharing, teaches you to ‘think on the run’, helps to increase skills in concentration, persistence and self-discipline, is a great way to meet people and exercise with friends, can provide an opportunity to increase your confidence and self-esteem, and help to reduce anxiety, requires very little equipment so it can be played in the backyard or park, is relatively easy to learn, so beginners can easily join in the fun and play basic soccer for recreation and is an international sport.               

 

Cricket: Like most sports, cricket helps you to develop muscles and burn calories while improving your coordination and stamina. A physically active game, cricket requires pitching the ball, hitting the ball with the long, flat bat, sprinting from wicket to wicket and throwing and catching in the field.

Strong, fast legs help players to score runs. Upper body strength lends to improved throwing and hitting the ball. And hand-eye coordination, along with flexibility, helps you to catch and keep the ball in play
One of the benefits of playing sports is making new friends and enjoying the camaraderie of your teammates. Cricket matches can last several hours, and within that time you must work with your team in a cooperative manner to develop and initiate game strategies and win the match. Celebrating wins and commiserating losses are more fun when done with your friends.Benefits: Helps in endurance, stamina, balance and co-ordination and physical fitness. It also improves in hand-eye co-ordination.

 

Badminton: It is a well-known fact that indulging in aerobic sports activity like badminton gives multiple health benefits and promotes longevity. In fact it has been found that playing badminton till you get an increase in heart rate or mild breathlessness regularly in middle age lowers the risk of death by about 23% in the subsequent 20 years and improves longevity by at least 2 years. The optimal health benefits are achieved by playing badminton for at least 30 minutes a day after adequate warm up.

 

 The main health benefit is reduction of bad cholesterol and increase in good cholesterol with regular badminton play. In our body, total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) are bad cholesterols and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) is the only good cholesterol.

 Playing badminton regularly increases the levels of HDL good cholesterol while decreasing the levels of bad cholesterols. As bad cholesterols decrease the size of blood vessels promoting heart attacks and strokes, reduction in their levels translates into multiple health benefits for the individual.

  Playing regular badminton conditions the body so that the basal heart rate drops a few beats per minute and blood pressure is reduced. Both these effects are helpful in hypertensive individuals. It may help them to ward off their hypertension without medicines and even if they are needed, only fewer amounts are required.

 Another particular health benefit of playing regular badminton is protection from heart disease, especially heart attacks. Playing badminton conditions and strengthens the heart muscle besides reducing hypertension and keeping blood vessels from clogging as we have seen earlier. Even people with pre-existing heart disease can benefit by playing badminton within their endurance levels under medical supervision and advice.

 

 Regular indulgence in badminton helps overweight people to reduce their weight and attain optimal weight for their height and age. This effect is due to the excess calories burnt during playing badminton which prevents them from accumulating as fat and increasing the individual's weight.

 Moreover, the existing fat deposits are also mobilized to produce energy while playing badminton. But for achieving optimal weight loss, it has to be combined with diet modification as well.

 Additional health benefit of playing regular badminton is reduced incidence of cancers like cancer of the large bowel and cancer of breast.

 Finally, playing badminton keeps you feeling well, strong, motivated, enthusiastic and young. It helps to ward off depression, anxiety, stress and increase self-esteem. It also helps in enjoying a better sleep in the night, thereby minimizing the incidence of pre-existing illnesses getting aggravated due to lack of sleep.

 

 Volleyball is one of the best sports workouts. Playing volleyball is a healthy way to get some exercise. Playing volleyball on a regular basis is one way to increase your physical activity level, which will help you get fit and toned, as well as healthy and energetic.

 

Volleyball requires you to pay close attention to the ball so that you can use your arms and hands to come into contact with the fast-moving volleyball in order to send it flying over the net. Playing volleyball requires that you work with a team to score points and keep the other team from winning. This requires that you work well with your team and gives you valuable opportunities to interact socially with friends and acquaintances.

 

Basketball: Basketball is a fast moving game that involves a lot of variety, including shooting, dribbling, passing, rebounding, defence and much more. Basketball involves a lot of starting and stopping. While not renowned as an aerobic sport, it is still a great workout that can help you burn calories (an hour of basketball can burn 630–750 calories), build endurance, improve balance and coordination, develop concentration and self-discipline, build up muscle.

 

As well as being a great way to stay fit, basketball can also: help you to make new friends and see them regularly teach you about being a good team player, be played by people of all ages and all abilities, be played all year round because it’s usually an indoor sport, be a fun game that kids of all levels and ages can enjoy, be practiced alone – all you need is a ball and a hoop (and you can find a hoop in most local parks and school grounds), be played and enjoyed with as few as two people (although official games require 10 players).

 

Cycling: Cycling is a healthy, low-impact exercise that can be enjoyed by people of all ages, from young children to older adults. It is also fun, cheap and good for the environment.

 

It only takes two to four hours a week to achieve a general improvement to your health. Cycling is:

•Low impact – it causes less strain and injuries than most other forms of exercise.

•A good muscle workout – cycling uses all of the major muscle groups as you pedal.

•Easy – unlike some other sports, cycling does not require high levels of physical skill. Most people know how to ride a bike and, once you learn, you don’t forget.

•Good for strength and stamina – cycling increases stamina, strength and aerobic fitness.

•As intense as you want – cycling can be done at very low intensity to begin with, if recovering from injury or illness, but can be built up to a demanding physical workout.

•A fun way to get fit – the adventure and buzz you get from coasting down hills and being outdoors means you are more likely to continue to cycle regularly, compared to other physical activities that keep you indoors or require special times or places.

•Time-efficient – as a mode of transport, cycling replaces sedentary (sitting) time spent driving motor vehicles or using trams, trains or buses with healthy exercise

 

Cycling is mainly an aerobic activity, which means that your heart, blood vessels and lungs all get a workout. You will breathe deeper, perspire and experience increased body temperature, which will improve your overall fitness level.

 

The health benefits of regular cycling include:

•increased cardiovascular fitness

•increased muscle strength and flexibility

•improved joint mobility

•decreased stress levels

•improved posture and coordination                           

•strengthened bones

•decreased body fat levels

•prevention or management of disease

•reduced anxiety and depression

 

Swimming: Swimming is the best way to help your body cool down during summer. Since, swimming involves your entire body; it is the best full-body workout. It helps you to relax, builds endurance, tones your muscles, maintains a healthy weight and improves flexibility.

 

Swimming is a great workout because you need to move your whole body against the resistance of the water. Swimming is a good all-round activity because it:

•keeps your heart rate up but takes some of the impact stress off your body

•builds endurance, muscle strength and cardiovascular fitness

•helps maintain a healthy weight, healthy heart and lungs

•tones muscles and builds strength

•provides an all-over body workout, as nearly all of your muscles are used during swimming.

 

Swimming has many other benefits including:

•being a relaxing and peaceful form of exercise

•alleviating stress

•improving coordination, balance and posture

•improving flexibility

•providing good low-impact therapy for some injuries and conditions

•providing a pleasant way to cool down on a hot day

•being available in many places – you can swim in swimming pools, beaches, lakes, dams and rivers.

 

Hiking: Hiking is a good recreational activity. It helps to improve muscular fitness, reduce depression, maintains healthy weight and lubricates your joints well. So, plan a trek this weekend to enjoy a peaceful traffic-less zone.

 

Categorized as an aerobic exercise, hiking can help improve:

•Cardiorespiratory fitness including heart, lungs and blood vessels

•Muscle strength

•Bone density (or slow its loss)

•Sleep quality

•Weight control. On average hiking burns up about 250 calories an hour—and people who lose weight through hiking or walking generally maintain that loss and continue to lose, while those who depend on diets tend to gain weight back.

 

Tramping through the forest can also help reduce your risk for:

•Heart disease and stroke

•High blood pressure or Type 2 diabetes

•High cholesterol and triglycerides

•Colon, breast, lung and endometrial cancers

•Depression (if so afflicted)

•Early death (Studies have shown that someone who is active for seven hours a week has a 40 percent lower chance of dying early than someone active for less than 30 minutes a week.)

•Negative effects of osteoporosis and arthritis

•Tension and anxiety

 

Dancing: Dance is an amazingly fun activity. It allows people to enjoy, socialise and develop creative skills. Dancing for 30 minutes helps to keep the body active, helps to improve strength and flexibility, improves posture and balance, reduces stress levels and burns calories.

 

There are many forms of dance, from ballroom to barn dancing and disco to Morris dancing. Dance has always been a part of human culture, rituals and celebrations. Today, most dancing is about recreation and self-expression, although it can also be done as a competitive activity. Dancing is an enjoyable way to be more physically active and stay fit.

 

Dancing can be a way to stay fit for people of all ages, shapes and sizes. It has a wide range of physical and mental benefits including:

•improved condition of your heart and lungs

•increased muscular strength, endurance and motor fitness

•increased aerobic fitness

•improved muscle tone and strength

•weight management

•stronger bones and reduced risk of osteoporosis

•better coordination, agility and flexibility

•improved balance and spatial awareness

•increased physical confidence

•improved mental functioning

•improved general and psychological wellbeing

•greater self-confidence and self-esteem

•better social skills.

 

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