There are so many different sports out there for you to try that you’re bound to enjoy and be good at one of them. Taking part in sport helps to benefit every other area of your life, if you’re at school and you take part in a sport then it helps your academic performance, if you have a job then taking part in sports helps with your productivity and helps you to focus better on your work.
By playing sports you acquire a great number of skills including helping to develop your teamwork skills which are also transferrable to other areas of your life. Playing sports also provides you with many physical benefits, playing sports consistently when you’re young can help to lower your chance of developing various cancers when you’re older, it can help to boost your self-esteem and they’re a great stress relief. People have always enjoyed contact sports as they’re extremely competitive and you can improve alone as they don’t require a team to train with, but, in recent years people have become increasingly concerned about contact sports and the health risks. There is a high chance of collision in contact sports which can lead to serious injuries, luckily there are many non-contact sports that have just as many health benefits and are just as much fun.
Running
Running is one of the most popular non-contact sports as all you need to get into running is your legs and a good pair of trainers, no expensive equipment is needed. Running, or even walking has many health benefits, studies by the American Heart Association have shown that brisk walking is just as good for you and your fitness as running, so if you do not feel fit enough to go straight to running try this first.
One hour a day of brisk walking or a half-hour run can help to reduce high blood pressure, lower high cholesterol, and lower your chances of developing diabetes or heart disease. Running also has great mental health benefits too as you’ll be outside, so you’ll be getting vitamin D which helps to ease depressive symptoms if you suffer from them, it helps to calm your mind leaving you in a better mood. It also helps you to sleep through the night, increases productivity throughout the day and it can prevent cognitive decline later in life if you run whilst you are young.
Golf
Regularly playing golf has many great health benefits. It’s a long outdoors game so that means you’re finding the time to spend a lot of time in the fresh air, this alone has lots of health benefits. People who spend a lot of time outdoors have better immune systems as they’re getting enough vitamin D and have better digestive health and a lower heart rate.
Golf is a social sport which has great benefits for your mental health, the interactions with people who share a common interest have been shown to improve your overall well being as it can help to improve your social skills and this can lead to boost in confidence. It also promotes healthy competition among players, this is beneficial for your health as it means you have to push yourself and challenge yourself to win, to get better quickly you can improve your golf drives with a launch monitor. These are just a few of the main health benefits golf has, some others include boosting your concentration, improving your creativity, it is good for your heart as it increases your heart rate, it allows you to burn more calories, and is one of the best sports for stress relief.
Tennis
Tennis is another inexpensive sport as there are many free tennis courts for you to play on and it’s possible to get a decent tennis racquet for cheap. Tennis massively improves aerobic fitness but to be good at it you’ll need to have quick reflexes to react to the ball, practice is the only way to develop your reflexes and alongside this, you’ll also be strengthening your bones, lowers the risk of heart disease and helps improve your cholesterol levels.