Health Benefits of Playing Soccer

Regular exercise is good for your health, reducing the risk of many serious illnesses and promoting a long life. It can reduce the risk of chronic heart disease and improve overall body conditioning and wellness. But many people do not exercise because it seems like a boring, repetitive process. If you fall in this half of the section, here is another word for you - Sports!

Engaging in sports can help to reduce stress, and increase physical and mental health, all while having fun. And what better sport to select than Soccer (popularly known as Football). Not only is football more engaging, fun and efficient, but it also offers something that is so much better than regular monotonous jogging. Studies have shown that soccer training for 2-3 hours per week can cause significant improvements in health, fitness, strength and endurance independent of gender, age or lack of experience with soccer.

Football is one of the most popular and widely played team sports in the world. The game of football involves two teams of eleven players, a referee, a ball and two goals. Physically, it is taxing sport as it involves accelerating, decelerating, jumping, cutting, pivoting, turning, heading and kicking the ball. Plus, this sport does not require much equipment and can even be played in a back yard. Here are some benefits that Football offers:

• Muscle strength: Soccer is great for your overall muscle tone as it is a game of constant movement which keeps your muscles engaged over long periods of time. Chasing your opponent, blasting the ball for a goal and jumping for headers are all exercises that build muscle in your legs.

• Cardiovascular Health: Playing soccer involves constant shifts between walking, running and sprinting, which helps the heart by making it work more efficiently during exercise and at rest. A research study done by University of Copenhagen in women aged 20 to 45 showed that playing soccer regularly has a positive effect on the structure and function of the heart. Soccer also lowers your blood pressure, increases your maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) and lowers your resting heart rate. Playing football regularly can reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke.

• Bone strength: Regular bouts of high-impact exercise like football puts pressure on your bones which can help boost your bones. Studies have shown that people who participate in weight-bearing exercise such as playing football helps build up and maintain strong, healthy bones and helps prevent osteoporosis later in life.

• Weight loss: A 45 minute game of football probably can burn about 350 calories. It also increases metabolism so you will also keep using extra calories for 48 hours after the game because your metabolic rate stays higher.

• Improves coordination, agility and balance: Playing soccer involves complex movements like dribbling, quickly changing direction and passing performed at varying rates of speed which improves your body coordination, agility and balance. Kicking the ball and receiving the pass from someone improves your hand to eye coordination.

• Stress buster: Soccer can have positive effects on how you feel. It can improve your mood, raise your self-esteem, reduce stress and help you sleep better. Young players who play football feel better about themselves as exercises has been shown to lower stress. A recent study found that men worry less when playing soccer than when running.

• Social skills: Soccer provides a stage where people can learn and practice their social skills. You will inevitably meet and become friends with other people from different backgrounds and different cultures. Playing soccer means working as a team member, picking each other up, experiencing the highs and lows, supporting and helping others. It teaches you to think in broader terms where personal goals are pushed aside by team goals. You can build a team spirit and have fun at the same time.

Other benefits include:

• Builds flexibility and endurance.
• It teaches to think on-the-go.
• Helps to increase skills in concentration, persistence and self-discipline.
• It teaches determination, responsibility, and patience.

Regular physical activity and exercise promote a healthy body and a healthy mind. By taking part in football matches each week, you will see the benefits of staying healthy continually and it will invariably encourage ongoing healthy habits.