FITNESS BENEFITS OF PLAYING SOCCER

Hello people, it has been a long time I wrote an article. 2015 has been a busy year from personal projects like planning a wedding, which by the way happened last month, August 2015, to business projects like planning the annual Shape Up Naija Fitness Carnival which is scheduled to hold on Saturday December 5, 2015. 

I often feel sad when I see people struggle so much at the gym or at a horrendous bootcamp session, whilst those have their results, I often wondered if these people had some sports they loved doing. With the growing popularity of group fitness classes and gym based workouts in Nigeria, it looks like many have forgotten that staying fit can be achieved from engaging in good old sports like football, basketball, tennis or even swimming. So, no you do not have to go through those gruesome drills, you can run around for an hour on the football pitch, burn some calories and make friends in the process. Here are some benefits of playing soccer/football.

Increased aerobic capacity and cardiovascular health: The average player runs 5 to 7 miles in a full game. The constant walking, jogging and running helps keep your heart rate up, providing excellent cardiovascular exercise.

Lowers body fat and improves body tone: Soccer is a great sport for burning fat because it works the muscles and your heart in different ways. Soccer builds more muscle mass and burns more fat by employing both slow-twitch and fast-twitch muscle fibers. The cardio workout helps players strengthen their hearts, resist plaque build-up in the coronary arteries, reduce their blood pressure and burn excess calories.

Builds strength, flexibility and endurance: The running, jumping and kicking you do in soccer helps strengthen your muscles and bones. Regular soccer playing builds strength by using the whole body.

Increases muscles and bone strength: As we grow old, our bones density decreases. lack of physical activity can speed the occurrence of this. The repeated weight-bearing loads on the body during a soccer match are an excellent way to increase bone density.

In addition to the above, soccer is a good social sports, it can be done by everyone and played anywhere. It can make a good family sports, office team building, etc. So when next you think fitness, you could try a game of soccer!