It’s a common knowledge that regular activity has an immense impact on our physical health. However, it’s been proven that playing sports is a great cure not just for our body, but mind as well. So, read on and find out what mental benefits of playing sports you could experience.
It can help you fight anxiety
If you feel anxious more often, you’d better start working out now! The article published in “American Journal of Psychiatry” in 2005 reveals that playing sports can reduce anxiety. The studied subjects were people who suffered from anxiety disorder. They were divided into two groups which both were chemically injected with panic attack. The first group was consisted of those who had been exercising for 30 minutes before they received the injection, while the second group included those who had been relaxing for the same time. It was recorded that significantly lower number of people from the first group had experienced a panic attack in comparison to the other group.
It can help you fight depression
Have you been feeling blue recently? If your answer is yes, consider taking up some kind of physical activity. Apparently, exercising keeps your mind occupied so that you cannot get distressed by daily problems and negative thoughts. What is more, it decreases the level of stress hormones and increases the level of endorphins – hormones acting like mood boosters. So, if you want to distract your mind, get engaged into any physical activity you prefer. Whether you picked sports, gym, or simple walking, you could feel happier, relaxed and more optimistic afterwards.
It can boost your self-esteem
Since playing sports or regular exercising changes the look of your body in a good way, it’s obvious that you would feel more satisfied with your body image. However, this assumption was proven by the study conducted in 2000 among thousands of both male and female adolescents. According to this research, the more they exercised, the better they felt about their appearance. Plus, enhanced self-esteem was listed as an official mental benefit of exercise by the Association for Applied Sport Psychology.
It can boost your confidence
Not only does playing sports make you feel better about your body image, but about your performance, too. When playing sports, you indirectly affect your strength, skills and energy levels. All of which may help you to fulfill tasks and overcome obstacles much more easily. Even Princeton University Health Services suggest that athletics find their daily tasks much easier due to the higher energy levels. Therefore, start working out and never feel the self-doubt again.
It can help your brain stay alert
If you’re over 50, you’d be glad to hear that one of mental benefits of moderate exercising is that it can slow down the aging process of your brain. According to the theory, when exercising, your brain gets supplied with blood and oxygen which leads to the production of new neurons. But, what moderate exercising is better than playing golf? It implies long distance walking, holding the conversations and spending great amount of time outdoors. And all of them are proven to have mental benefits. Even if you’ve never played golf before, you shouldn’t deprive yourself from its benefits. With a little help from Swing Eagle golf training aid, you can learn how to swing at your home. So, stay active and keep your brain alert.
It can improve your sleep quality
Although you might be already familiar with this mental benefit of playing sports, it won’t do any harm to list it in this article. When participating in some kind of physical activity, you tend to fall asleep much faster than usual. What is more, regular physical activity actually deepens your sleep and thus improves your sleep quality. And better sleep also means that you’ll perform and feel better the next day. However, bear in mind that exercising too late in the evening may prevent you from falling asleep owing to increased level of energy.
So, now that you’ve learned that participating in sports has both physical and mental benefits, get out there and get involved in your favorite physical activity.