It is well known that playing any kind of sport is beneficial for your body and health. Recent studies have shown that the most popular sport in the world, soccer, offers numerous health benefits for those who choose to train it. People who practice soccer will improve their overall fitness, and positively influence some of the lifestyle related diseases. Soccer, being a team sport, can also help you develop your social skills and allow you to relax with your friends while kicking the ball around. What else can soccer offer you?
It is good for your hearth
Soccer is physically very demanding. Recent studies have proven that playing soccer regularly can help people who have hypertension (high blood pressure). It will improve their fitness, bring their blood pressure to a normal level and greatly reduce their risk of getting a stroke. Research has shown that playing soccer will prevent cardiovascular diseases in middle-aged men. Study consisted of 33 men between the ages of 33 and 54, and each of them had mild hypertension. They were split into two groups, one group had two 1-hour training sessions per week, and the other group received care from their physicians.
Participants exercise capacity, maximal oxygen intake, their percentage of body fat and blood pressure levels were measured two times, after three months and after six months when the trial ended. Results have revealed that the group that played soccer had greatly reduced average blood pressure. Their exercise capacity and oxygen intake were also increased. They’ve experienced improvements with resting heart rate and body fat percentage. The control group didn’t have any significant improvements on any of these measurements.
With just two sessions a week, you could score a hat trick for your heart. Regular soccer training will help with your blood pressure, improve your fitness and help you burn excess fat. It can also decrease your chances of having a stroke and myocardial infarction.
It will tone your muscles
Anybody who watches soccer has noticed how soccer players are in great physical shape. Their muscles are developed and they are ripped. Soccer requires players to move constantly and therefore engages the muscles for long periods of time. This has proven to be beneficial for muscle tone. Another benefit from soccer is bone density. As you get older your bones become more fragile. Soccer involves weight bearing loads throughout the game, which has proven to be an excellent way of strengthening the skeletal frame.
Improves your endurance
Soccer will help you increase your cardio capacity, and will also increase your endurance. By increasing your cardio capacity you will be able to play soccer or do any other sports for a longer period of time. This sport engages your body with a variety of different motions. It carries more benefits than simply riding a stationary bicycle in the gym. Soccer involves running, walking, springing and even jumping. All of these movements require a great amount of endurance to play it for prolonged periods of time. Another great thing about soccer is that it doesn’t require a lot of gear. All you need is some soccer training equipment and you can start playing it and reap the benefits.
Coordination
If you are clumsy and bump into objects all the time, soccer can help you with that too. Kicking the ball or receiving a pass from another player improves hand-eye coordination. Your body coordination is also improving since soccer involves many complex movements, such as dribbling, making sharp turns and passing. Many of these are performed at different speed, while changing directions. Having a better coordination doesn’t only translate to soccer fields, but to any other sport as well.
Teamwork
Fitness is probably the first thing that comes to your mind if you started playing soccer. Since this is a team sport and requires a lot of cooperation among players, it can also teach you valuable lessons that can be beneficial to you in your everyday life. It could improve your ability to work with others in order to reach a common goal. In soccer, players set their own personal goals aside and only think about team goals. This way of thinking can easily be applied to work situations and problem solving at home.
Since it is not an expensive sport, or prohibitive, anybody can play it. All you need for a good game of soccer are a field and a ball. The rules are quite simple, and it can be played outdoors as well as indoors. It carries along many health benefits including: improving blood pressure, fitness and decreasing body fat, it strengthens your muscles and your bones. Overall, soccer it will make you a better team player, which is very important quality to have nowadays
