Racket Sports

The health benefits of regular exercise are unquestionable. One of the key problems is not only consistency but in finding an exercise which is fun and confers a high level of health benefits.

Some people like to run, but who wants to run twelve miles a day three times a week to stay healthy? Some do, but it's probably a small part of the population.

Staying healthy should be fun and challenging. So, today I will discuss racket sports. I will show you how this one sport can boost brain power, protect you against Parkinsons and reduce your risk of death by improving cardiovascular health and fitness.

We should partake in 75-100 mins of vigorous exercise related activity on a weekly basis. Inadequate physical activity is the fourth major cause of death world. A sedentary lifestyle is associated with increase risk of cancer, high blood pressure, depression and heart disease.

There is significant evidence on the health benefits of exercise, but adherence seems to a problematic issue. The focus on racket sports is because it holds unique advantages over most other sports. People can learn it at any age.

First, the physical fitness benefits are broad.

Continuous movement is necessary in this sport. The elevated heart rate improves cardiovascular fitness and this fights heart disease and stroke.

The physical demands placed on the entire body leads to increased muscle strength and endurance, which maintains and improves your metabolism.

In time, with regularity, your body composition improves. Improve body composition comes with the health benefits of improved cholesterol profiles, better blood glucose regulation and insulin sensitivity.

One benefit of racket sports is that people of any age can learn it. This becomes important in the older age group populations because of the demands placed on the body. As a result, we improve flexibility, balance and agility, all necessary to prevent and reduce falls later in life.

Racket sports like tennis, squash, and badminton involve short bursts of high-intensity activity followed by brief rest periods. This interval-style exercise is effective for improving cardiovascular fitness and increasing VO2 max, which is associated with a longer health span and higher than normal overall health.

The physical benefits are good, but the brain boosting health benefits is better.

The entire brain lights up with electrical activity up during a game of tennis. To keep up with the physical demands of this sport, your body pushes your brain to its limits.

The pre-frontal cortex. It involves critical thinking, decision making, planning, and problem solving. In racket sports, players strategically use the pre-frontal cortex, engaging in high-paced settings that increase blood flow to this region of the brain.

Hand eye coordination may seem like a trivial task, but tracking a moving a ball while coordinating the movements needed to contact the ball and reinforces that brain body connection.

Your brain's network of connection is stronger when you play racket sports. The neural connection become denser, and this improves overall health.

In consistency comes one of the biggest health benefits. Over time, the brain adapts and grows new neurons in a specific brain region involved in memory and learning. This area becomes a vigorous defense and reduces your risk of Parkinson's disease.

The mental health side of benefits is immense. This sport reduces risk of depression and anxiety. Also, because you are playing against another person, it strengthens social connections, a crucial factor in brain health and longevity.

Recap

Badminton, tennis, ping pong, squash, pickle ball and racket ball are some choices from which you can choose. We know regular exercise can prove to be a daunting task. Motivation sometime plays a key role, but finding a fun way of doing it can make it easier. The accountability method will be helpful because you will have a partner who will rely on you to show up. With a commitment of only 30-40 minutes per day, 2-3 times per week, you can make significant progress. If you are looking to maintain mental acuity and physical fitness as you get older, then this sport could be just what you need.