If you’re looking to switch up your usual fitness regime and get away from the gym, badminton can be a fantastic alternative. It provides a heart-racing workout, some great health benefits and can be played socially and competitively.
To get started, all you’ll need is some trainers and your usual workout gear. You can either hire a badminton racket at most courts and shuttlecocks in halls or bring your own.
BENEFITS OF BADMINTON
Badminton offers many benefits, from increasing life expectancy and mobility to promoting heart health and exercise for all ages and abilities. Find out more about the benefits of introducing badminton as part of your weekly fitness regime right here:
1. Badminton is a Total Body Workout
While you’re lunging, diving, running and getting your heart pumping, playing a game of Badminton can help you burn around 550 calories an hour. The varied movements provide a powerful cardio workout by engaging the entire body, including the hamstrings, quads, calves and your core.
2. Socialising
We recommend taking 30 minutes of exercise for adults five times a week. Due to increased home and work responsibilities, some of us may be guilty of not doing as much physical activity as we should. Badminton is a fun and flexible sport that can be enjoyed around your busy schedule. Most playing courts are available to hire during the day, evenings and weekends. You can even use your workout to socialise and catch up with friends and family.
3. Badminton Improves Your Mental Wellbeing
Regular physical activity helps release our natural feel-good happy hormones and endorphins. Badminton can help reduce depression, anxiety and stress and improve overall mood and sleep. Talking to other players and rallying in singles or doubles means that Badminton is a social sport. Badminton can be particularly beneficial in combating loneliness among older players.
4. Heart Health
A healthy heart is essential to ensure your body functions correctly and adequately. Badminton decreases ‘bad’ cholesterol levels, blocking your blood vessels and improving good cholesterol levels. Badminton reduces the risk of hypertension (high blood pressure), heart attack and stroke.
5. Badminton Helps Reduce Health Risks
Badminton can reduce the risks of developing type two diabetes as an adult. It reduces the production of sugar in the liver, which in turn reduces the body’s fasting blood sugar. Whereas for children and young adults, chasing the shuttlecock and moving around the court at a fast pace can aid in developing bone mass and density. Badminton lessens the likelihood of osteoporosis in the future.
6. Increased Life Expectancy
A Danish study found that playing a racket-based sport such as Badminton can increase your life expectancy by approximately six years. Football can increase life expectancy by more than four years, while cycling, swimming and jogging can each boost life expectancy by over three years.
7. Improved Mobility
As we age, our mobility gradually begins to become more limited. We can prevent this by lubricating our joints, keeping up with our fitness regime and remaining active. It also helps to minimise the risk of arthritis and other joint issues.
8. Badminton is a Flexible Exercise
Everyone can enjoy Badminton, regardless of their fitness or health. You can choose a more or less intense workout by altering your playing pace. Badminton suits your individual needs and the needs and abilities of the other players.
9. Child Friendly
With kids getting increasingly tech-savvy, using smartphones, tablets and TV as forms of entertainment. Motivating your children to get out and about and participate in physical activity outside school can sometimes be challenging. They’ll learn about the importance of health and fitness and new skills by bringing them to a badminton session. Plus you’ll be able to have a wonderful time as a whole family.
10. Improves reflexes (improve reflexes, productivity and intelligence)
With great power comes great responsibility, and with Badminton, you will develop lightening quick reflexes. Badminton is the fastest sport, so you need to respond quickly.
You need to be physically swift to reach the shuttle and mentally agile to work out where to move to return it and how to hit it to win. The combined agility of mind and body will advance your ability to process thoughts and accurately develop a plan of action, both on and off the court.
The fact that one needs to respond quickly requires high levels of concentration, and it builds on its own and helps with engagement in other avenues as well.
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