9 Amazing Health Benefits of Playing Football/Soccer — [Infographic]
Has your general physician been repetitively telling you to do exercise and lose weight? You must have visited a gym too where you have spent hours running on the treadmill and hopping on the elliptical machine and, at last, returned home with body ache and tiredness.
This is what happens to us when we do something we do not love. Moreover, gym is not the only place which gives you good health and a toned body.
Seems unbelievable, right?
What we keep ignoring when we enter into adulthood and develop the likelihood of suffering from health conditions is that there are more potent and cost-effective fitness plans in store for us such as sports. And, when it comes to natural fitness, no sport holds so much potential as football.
Have you ever wondered what makes the popular football players, such as Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and David Beckham, so fit and so popular? It is not only the artistic beauty of their managing the white ball on the field, but also their perseverance of practicing the game regularly which makes their physique so attractive.
Football requires continuous running, faster footwork and physical agility which provide amazing benefits for both the mental and physical health.
Therefore, bring out your sport shoe and grab the white ball because it is going to change your outlook on body fitness and well-being.
Do you want to know what are the physical benefits of playing soccer?
Keep reading…
Find out below 9 amazing health benefits of playing soccer.
1. IMPROVE YOUR CARDIOVASCULAR FUNCTIONS PLAYFULLY
In the modern competitive world, we are gradually becoming inclined towards consuming junk and oily food. As a result, our cardiovascular health is greatly affected and there is an increased number of medical emergencies reported due to cardiovascular disorders such as brain stroke, heart attack, irregular heart rhythm, hyperglycemia etc.
But, why race miles on a boring treadmill when you can cover 5 to 7 miles of running within a span of 90 minutes?
Playing soccer requires you to breathe fast which leads your heart to pump blood faster and circulate it all across the body muscles. Better circulation of blood also prevents the accumulation of any plaque inside the major cardiovascular arteries. Improving the functionality of your heart is one of the key advantages of playing football which stabilizes your heart rate and protects you from getting chronic cardiovascular diseases like diabetes.
So, next time, when you are busy in twisting your body to meet the requirements of a soccer game, your heart functionality would keep getting healthier with no scope for bothersome health problems such as systolic blood pressure.
2. INCREASE YOUR BONE DENSITY
Our bones start losing their strength as we grow older. Moreover, when the bone damage is severe, we might get diseases such as osteoporosis and osteomalacia. But soccer offers you a golden chance to strengthen your bone density so that you do not have to depend on any vitamin D supplements.
But, how is improvement in bone density considered as one of the physical benefits of playing soccer?
Our bone, like any other body organs, is continuously remodeling itself. When human bones receive external stress, it concentrates more on the process of deposition or growth and slows down the breakdown process.
Soccer involves running and abrupt jumping which signal the bone to stop the breakdown process and, as a result, this mechanical load or stress on the bones significantly increases the cortex density.
So, choose to play soccer to keep your bones strong rather than visiting your orthopedic frequently.
3. REDUCE YOUR BODY FAT NATURALLY
When you choose to play soccer on a regular basis, you get one of the best advantages of playing football — toned physique.
Soccer playfully engages you to run, twist your body and jump and such rapid body movement sheds the body fat faster than any machine in the gym. Soccer is also considered as a type of aerobic exercise because it requires walking, running, sprinting and faster recovery time from its players. Such faster activities increase their physical stamina and helps them to concentrate only on the game.
While you are focused on getting the ball across the net, your body continually sheds weight and gives you the body shape of your dreams. Therefore, you do not need to go for jogging early in the morning or push your way through the gym. Just play soccer daily and get a body that your friends would envy!
4. GET TONED MUSCLES WITH INCREASED STRENGTH
Do you admire the sports athletes for their attractive physique? Do you crave for such a toned body?
Don’t worry. Just keep playing football.
Playing soccer concentrates on both your bone and muscles. Lack of exercise can affect the health and external appearance of your muscles as many intermittent tissues of fat accumulate over there. But soccer helps you to burn calories and melt fat faster so that your muscle tissues are tightened and strengthened over time.
Many researchers agree on the fact that no other sport enhances the performance of athletes so remarkably as soccer. It continually works on the muscular tissues of the thigh, abdomen and chest and increases the agility of your body.
Soccer targets both the upper body muscles and the lower body muscles with activities such as holding off opponents, throw-ins, running, jumping and shielding the ball.
Explosive speed and greater endurance are some of the most commendable physical benefits of playing soccer which you would develop unconsciously while playing football.
5. LEAD A STRESS-FREE LIFE
One problem that many of us encounter, when we try our physical abilities at any gym, is that it builds up tension in our minds till we complete performing an exercise session.
But soccer, on the other hand, helps you to feel free from any troubling thought as it is only the moving ball which catches your attention. As a result, you concentrate more on the game and aim for specific destinations.
Anxiety causes us to slow down and reflect on the problematic aspects. Moreover, it is also responsible for the fluctuations in our bodily functions and hormonal balance. One of the best advantages of playing football is that it starts making impact on our inner health and provides us with a relaxed mind which helps us in carrying out the daily activities.
On the other hand, soccer releases endorphin in the human brain which is responsible for maintaining the stability of your mood. Thus, playing soccer not only helps you to reduce the anxiety level but also makes you more focused and determined.
6. HAVE BETTER COORDINATION SKILLS
If you have to carry out an important task under pressurizing situation, finding coordination is the key. And, when you learn to manage your coordination effectively, the bodily functions are stabilized which improves your nervous system.
Soccer is one of the few sports which greatly improves your concentration level and enhances your judgmental power on the field. Soccer, as a game, is entirely built on the coordination principles and you need to have accuracy of thoughts to get success while playing the game.
Soccer teaches you to switch between various important activities with varying speed, such as turning, dribbling, passing the ball and sprinting, and, as you graduate towards mastering the game, your accuracy of thinking is greatly improved.
So, keep playing soccer and achieve greater coordination between your body and mind!
7. IMPROVE YOUR CEREBRAL FUNCTIONS
There are very few exercises which engage your brain. But when you play soccer, you have to constantly keep thinking to decide your next move. Soccer requires great deal of planning from the players as they constantly face opponents who are trying to score for themselves.
Such alertness of the brain would result in your cognitive growth. Football is a game of constant switches and shifts; anyone can change the pace of the game at anytime. As a result, your brain start performing multitasking and assumes five to six possible changes at the same time which contributes to the growth of the brain. You are required to monitor the present situation and conceive the future scenario which enriches your assessment power and improves your thinking.
The culmination of both the past and the present is the beauty of the soccer game which you can appreciate as well as utilize to nurture your cognitive power.
8. HAVE GREATER FLEXIBILITY OF BODY AND MIND
Soccer is a game of swift movements and faster pace. When you shield the ball or pass it to others, you need to move fast towards a specific direction to take the advantage of the right situation. You would be required to make lateral or vertical movements by constantly running forward and backward. The rapidity of movements involved in playing soccer enhances your physical agility to a great extent.
Increased flexibility and greater speed are two of the most desired health benefits of playing soccer. The muscular tissues of the abdomen, legs and chest become more stretchable which aids you to shift constantly across the football field. Moreover, when you have a good and nimble body, you bear lesser chances of getting injuries too.
9. INCREASE YOUR ENDURANCE AND STAMINA
Endurance is a quality which helps you to go through the hardships of life with a determined mind and confronts any challenges in the path with courage. Football requires highly intensive activities which would prepare you for the obstacles that you are likely to face in life and take tactical move for achieving success.
The rolling football would make you run for longer periods and strategize the whole game in mind. As a result, it would result in the increase of both of your mental and physical stamina. Moreover, a football player has to understand the game techniques of the opponents and play accordingly under varying weather conditions which strengthens the endurance level and boosts up the immunity system.
In the entire span of 90 minutes, a footballer burns as much as 600 calories which is equivalent to running for 8 miles at a stretch!
Soccer is a brilliant game which not only provides benefits for having great health, but also teaches life skills. One of the major advantages of playing football is the confidence that you develop in tackling the ball. This aspect of soccer bears importance because it helps you in managing the other significant events of life as well.
Even though football is not a prohibitive sport, consult a physician first if you have long-term health conditions such as fractured or artificial leg, asthma, cardiovascular problems and high blood pressure.
Get the ball rolling as fast as you can and enjoy amazing fitness and health benefits of playing soccer!
Now It’s Your Turn
According to you, what are the health benefits of playing football?
Or maybe you have a question about something.
Either way, leave a quick comment below.
Originally published on: http://frontsmother.com/blog/health-benefits-of-playing-football
