Lifetime sports are precious.
In today’s blog, we’ll examine the precious benefits of playing sports and the painful detriments of not being active.
Topics include:
Choose wisely
Activity benefits
Imagine
Culture shock
Coach’s challenge
Choose wisely
Tennis, Swimming, Climbing, Cycling, Pickleball, Cross-fit, Weightlifting, Volleyball, Soccer, Rowing, Basketball, Skiing, Kayaking, Golf, Badminton, Running, Squash, and Gymnastics – just to name a few. Several sources on Google say the list of different kinds of sports tops out at about 8,000 worldwide. We have so many opportunities to find a sport we can enjoy for a lifetime – and the health benefits that come with it.
Some lifetime sports are expensive, and some sports are practically free. There are high injury-risk sports, and sports as safe as walking to your mailbox. Some love competition, and for others competing is frustrating. There are those of us who participate and those who spectate.
Maybe you need some motivation or maybe you just haven’t found the sport to match your needs. You may have to try out a few different activities. Determine if you’d like to be part of a team or not. Decide if you’d like to invest in equipment or not. There are even quizzes online to help you choose a sport that is most suited to you. Your sport should feel like play, not work.
Activity benefits
In America, we are inundated with sports. Lifetime sports are part of the fabric of our culture. America’s emotional connection to big-money athletics is real – if not a little puzzling. For now, let’s agree that spectating is okay as long as there are active lifestyle choices that accompany it.
There are many benefits to being active. Physical activity through sports can protect against many chronic diseases and can improve your memory and brain function (all ages). Being physically active can improve your quality of sleep and combat fatigue. Being consistently active aids in weight management.
Sports can have emotional benefits as well as obvious physical fitness advantages. Humans like to belong to a group – a team. Being connected to others who are also drawn to your sport brings valuable rewards like improving self-esteem, building relationships, and developing critical thinking. A lifetime sport or activity can cultivate perseverance and the self-satisfaction that “hard work pays off”. Other intangibles associated with sports are collaboration, controlling emotions, and learning to accept defeat (character building). There will never be a shortage of work or stress we put ourselves through. Allowing even a small amount of time for recreation will pay huge dividends over our lifetime. Sports can improve our quality of life. It doesn’t get more compelling than that!
If you have a sport already, think about trying a new one. If you play tennis, think about biking. If you weightlift, add yoga. If you are sedentary, start somewhere. Move. There is a lot more to life than connecting to a monitor screen and letting your life and health drift off into oblivion.
Bodies break down more frequently from lack of use rather than overuse. Pick a lifetime sport with a rather low-risk injury potential. This gives you the best shot at living a longer, more active, and more healthy life. But wait there’s more. The chances that your family members and friends will also live longer, and healthier lives just increased right along with yours. Don’t underestimate your influence and how that influence can be parlayed into lifestyle improvements for others around you.
Many of us who played sports in high school or college remember those glory days. However, some sports are not conducive to being lifetime sports. In fact, after school days, many athletes stopped playing and stopped being active. When the sport disappeared, the waistline did too! Simple solution: Go find a new lifetime sport and learn how to play. Former athletes may already be a step ahead in learning skills and using their bodies. Translate that dexterity to a new activity that will work for you in the decades to come. Bring your buddies along with you and make new friends, too. Give it a try!
Imagine
I’m using my blogger’s license to paraphrase John Lennon’s “Imagine.” Imagine for a moment how things might be different if more folks were engaged in regular physical activity. Imagine what the nationwide impact would be on healthcare costs (medical and mental health costs). Imagine how much of the social-media-time-suck could be avoided. Imagine the impact of setting an example of optimal health for our kids.
Imagine the impact of true camaraderie of a group of friends who enjoy your sport. Imagine the positivity that comes with the endorphins created through exercise. Imagine more fun in our world. “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us…” I know this may sound goofy, but for me, this concept is one of the sanest thoughts we could ever have.
Culture shock
Regrettably, our culture is steeped in unhealthy choices. Look at our grocery stores and advertising. Look at how many billions of dollars flow into junk food companies, tobacco, alcohol, antibiotic and hormone-treated livestock, genetically modified foods – not to mention the immeasurably lucrative pharmaceutical industry needed to treat the diseases that these unhealthy things cause.
Other unhealthy choices are inactivity, excessive screen time and skimping on sleep. All these are stressors. Add those to work stresses, financial issues, children or elder care and this pandemic. It is a bit overwhelming. The best first thing you can do is take a step toward being an active individual. Your future self will thank you. Participate in lifetime sports.
Coach’s challenge
If you feel like you are sliding in the wrong direction or are already there, make the commitment to get more active. Put up a badminton net in your yard. Get a lawn croquet set. Play kickball with the neighborhood kids. There’s a good chance will you laugh a lot, sweat a lot, and relieve a lot of stress.
If you are able to be active at any level or any age, do it. It is a wise choice. This gift is precious. Treasure it. If you are unable to be active, then choose other activities that stimulate you like playing chess, crafting, writing, sewing, playing an instrument, or gardening. Become a mentor or a tutor. Each of us can find worthy endeavors. Give yourself permission to be healthy and happy. There are opportunities all around us. Choose to Move Through It.
It is my greatest hope that you will implement some tips from our Bio-Cultivating and Neural-Cultivating blogs. Further, it is my hope you will be inspired to pass these learnings along to family and friends. We all have people in our lives who have the desire but lack the accurate information to improve their health. It is frustrating to sift through the bombardment of data and the misinformation in today’s world. It’s no wonder some give up in frustration. I believe that we deserve the healthiest choices that honest modern science can offer. It is my mission to help as many of us as possible get and stay healthy.
Ask Me Anything
Over the past few years, the bodyhelix team has enjoyed providing useful information to help its readers learn about physical exercise, nutrition, mental training, injury prevention along with several other topics. This month we are starting a new aspect for our blog audience. Hopefully, this new venture will prove helpful and fun. We call it the AMA Blog (Ask Me Anything).
We’ll take your questions/suggestions/topics and create a blog answering those burning questions. Let’s have some fun and learn together. The subjects can follow our training trends or can vary into other topics. The universe is the limit. We’ll do our best to field your questions from sports strategy to life hacks to personal habits to recommended products. Questions like, “What would you do if ….? or “How do I recommend a change to a friend?” or “Why can’t I improve?”
Get your questions ready. You are now officially invited to join our community for some customized learning and fun. Submit your questions to blog@bodyhelix.com. Our team will consider, ponder, and noodle over your questions. We’ll do our best to provide helpful responses.
Thank you for reading our content. The bodyhelix team appreciates your support and feedback. To use my newly adopted phrasing, “I look forward to hearing from you with your questions or suggestions on ways we can learn together.” Consider this as an open door to our shared journey of discovery.
We will neural-cultivate together.
For more information please visit https://bodyhelix.com/blog/
As a tennis coach myself, I found the compression industry to be unacceptable for our needs. I set out on a journey to help you and your students. I know we all get beat up. The harder we compete, the more we get injured. All compression is not created equal! At Body Helix, we start with an unapologetic obsession for exceptional quality. Our design philosophy is to create modern, innovative gear that surpasses that which is offered in the global marketplace. As a privately held, Veteran-owned, North Carolina company we challenge global leaders to elevate their compression game or step aside. It’s compression gear, designed by tennis players, for tennis players.
Be well and stay focused on cultivating your health, your mind, and your solitude. If I can help you further never hesitate to reach out to me. Remember it's all about lifetime sports.
Move Through It.
Coach Fred.
