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How Does Soccer Keep You Healthy?

How Does Soccer Keep You Healthy?

It’s okay if you have the intention of playing soccer but are concerned about how it might affect your body. Your health isn’t something you should put in jeopardy just because you want to have fun.

The physical effects of soccer on the body of soccer players can be observed around their legs and the similarity in their stature. To be sure of the health benefits of soccer, certain scientific studies and tests are carried out on players.

Key Takeaways

  • Playing soccer can improve your endurance, strength, health, and fitness as well as immunity against certain diseases due to improved blood circulation
  • Soccer involves physical and mental training and provides a total workout for your body which you may not get from the gym
  • Playing soccer offers more health benefits than just watching the game

With soccer being the most popular sport in the world, skeptics and cynics need ample reasons to drop their guard and love the sport—especially in America where soccer still comes second to American football.

Over the years, cynics have always looked for ways to poke holes in the reputation of the game. Although the media is often awash with the negative impact of soccer on the players, there are lots of benefits that you can miss out on from not getting actively involved.

Watching soccer is exhilarating and entertaining. However, people often need extra motivation to play the sport. Getting to know the health benefits of playing soccer might just be the motivation you need to start your soccer career (casually or professionally).

Soccer players are controlling the ball

How does soccer keep you healthy?

People play soccer for many reasons which are often decided by their skill level, interests, and experience. Soccer is a highly aerobic sport that can exercise different parts of your body simultaneously.

Soccer affects every part of the body when played especially, the upper region, legs, and torso. It involves a lot of sprinting which is good for maintaining general body fitness.

People of distinct body sizes and age categories can take part in soccer without difficulties. Even little kids lacking athletic ability can often be found engaging in soccer.

Aside from playing soccer as a career, it can also be played for fun amongst friends and family. It doesn’t necessarily require a big field with clean-cut grass and metal goalposts—your backyard or a street corner can serve as a makeshift soccer field.

It is impossible to enjoy the health benefits of soccer by just watching the game. In fact, watching soccer can be a source of anxiety and lead to a rise in blood pressure for die-hard fans.

Some experts believe that playing soccer is the best way to maintain general body fitness. We shall look at some health benefits associated with playing soccer. Our list is based on intense research.

1. Playing soccer enhances body tone

Ronaldo is cheering the goal

By playing soccer, you are enhancing your body’s tone by burning excess fat. When you play soccer, you work your muscle fibers which helps them increase in mass and strength.

Playing soccer is often preferable to going to the gym because soccer burns more calories in the shortest possible period compared to typical workouts. While playing soccer, players are forced to switch between aerobic and anaerobic pathways.

When soccer is being played, the body’s insulin level becomes sensitive, adrenaline is produced, and the production of lactic acid is also witnessed. All these bodily activities are designed to burn fats and produce energy.

For those people looking for faster ways of doing away with belly fat, playing soccer can be a suitable option. Soccer players are arguably the athletes with the best-toned bodies.

This explains why they often get endorsements from sports as well as non-sports brands.

2. It improves your aerobic endurance       

It takes a high level of aerobic endurance to run around a soccer pitch for 90 minutes without health complications. Playing soccer improves your stamina and gets you to a level where you can easily outperform most people in challenging activities.

Aside from running and kicking, soccer players also jump, jog, walk, stretch, and tackle opponents on the pitch. The various movements carried out while playing soccer all aid in carrying oxygen from the circulatory system to the muscles.

Only a few sports involve the use of the body in ways done by soccer players. By regularly playing soccer, your body will adapt to making better use of oxygen for energy.

This will stop you from the feeling of easily getting exhausted in your day-to-day activities. That implies higher productivity in other tasks you have set out for the day.

Van Dijlk trying to stop Son

3. Playing soccer makes your muscles and bones stronger  

A properly developed lower body is important for playing soccer. This gives players the needed strength for explosive speed, jumping, kicking, turning, tackling, and twisting.

The various training done by soccer players develop their upper bodies to help achieve higher shot power, explosiveness, and ball control. According to studies, this rigorous training enhances the strength of the skeletal frame of players.

The bones in the body are designed in such a way that they stop growing and start getting weak after a certain age. Research shows that engaging in sports like soccer can slow down the time it takes for the bones to start getting feeble.

Adaman Traore try to escape from the takle of the opponent in soccer 2

4. Gives you better control over your emotions

Whether you are watching or playing soccer, it has various ways of triggering a set of emotions in you. It is possible to experience as many as four different kinds of emotions during soccer training and matches.

In other words, playing or watching soccer can provide a form of emotional training that will help you to get used to the feeling of sadness and disappointment.

As you continue experiencing these emotions on the pitch, controlling them becomes easier. However, you can also apply such a lesson outside the pitch which will make you a better individual.

Soccer players always feel heartbroken when they lose matches or get criticized by fans. However, they don’t dwell on such bitter moments. They always figure out ways to get back on their feet and perform better.

Ronaldo is cheering the goal

Likewise, after a successful game, they are filled with joy and excitement. However, they have to put that feeling behind them quickly to get ready for the next game.

This healthy attitude learned from playing soccer helps in building resilience and developing a positive approach toward life. We have yet to hear that a soccer player ended his or her career because of successive failures.

5. Soccer improves player’s mental fitness

Studies show that engaging in physical exercises like soccer helps in improving people’s mental health. Chemicals called endorphins are released in the brain anytime we play soccer and they help to improve concentration, reduce stress, and make you happier and sleep better.

Spending time outdoors in nature has been known to increase relaxation and happiness. Because soccer is mostly played outdoors on natural grass, it tends to make us feel better after playing.

Ronaldo is cheering

 6. Playing soccer increases self-confidence

Confidence is one trait that deludes many young people which is why some engage in the intake of illicit substances to cope with their lack of confidence. Playing soccer among a team that feels like family and listening to the cheers of loving soccer fans will inevitably improve your confidence.

Encouragement from coaches can also build soccer players’ confidence in unimaginable proportions. When players train and see improvements in their style of play, they start feeling more confident in themselves.

Becoming confident is one of the healthy benefits of playing soccer. With great levels of confidence, you can hardly feel stressed, anxious, sad, or sulky about the nature of the circumstances surrounding you.

Messi points his finger at the camera

7. Help you practice healthy eating habits   

Aside from learning effective training routines, soccer players also get to follow strict eating regimens from their nutritionists.

Soccer players are always cautious of what they eat and drink because they understand that anything ingested into the body either has a positive or negative impact on it. It is difficult to see soccer players either getting drunk or abusing drugs even after they retire from the sport.

Many soccer players maintain their physique long after they retire from the sport due to their health practices. While some may not like the restrictive eating pattern, it eventually helps them to build healthy eating habits.

8. It improves cardiovascular health   

strong heart

According to studies, an average soccer player runs around 5 to 7 miles in a soccer match. The intensity of the aerobic exercise involved in the sport makes soccer a good cardiovascular exercise. From walking to sprinting, jogging, or jumping, the soccer player will have their heart rate up throughout the game.

Any exercise that makes the heart pump faster strengthens the heart’s muscles. In addition to that, the coronary arteries will be stronger to prevent plaque build-up.

Aerobic exercises similar to the ones that soccer players go through also burn excess calories. This will help to reduce the risk of high blood pressure.

While playing soccer, you will hardly suffer from cardiovascular-related diseases like stroke and heart failure. Healthy circulation of blood around the body will improve your body’s immunity to diseases.

9. Improves brain function and coordination   

Exercise has a similar effect on the brain as reading, this is why therapists often recommend sports like soccer to people experiencing certain problems. By playing soccer, you also develop a sense of teamwork and coordination.

In soccer, you will learn how to make smart decisions under pressure, handle stress, and stay focused on an intended goal. Playing soccer is like playing a puzzle game, aside from making your body stronger, it also sharpens your brain and makes you smarter.

Strong brain

Conclusion

There are many benefits to playing soccer. Aside from affecting your fitness and physique positively, it can also improve your brain power and emotional balance.

Playing soccer also has life-saving benefits which include improving your overall cardiovascular endurance which reduces the risk of sicknesses like stroke, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes.

Soccer doesn’t prohibit anybody from playing and it isn’t expensive to partake in. However, if you have an underlying health condition, it may be a good idea to check with your physician first to know whether playing soccer will exacerbate your situation.