Advantages of sports for students are countless. If you are a student who wants to take participation in a sports activity going on in your school but are worried that it might affect your studies then this post is just for you!
Or if you are a student who is too lazy and now getting fat and become a target of bullying from peers then this post is also for you. In this article, you will know 11 most common benefits of sports for students. So here we
Reduce stress and anxiety
7 out of 10 U.S adults reported that they experience stress on a daily basis. According to a study, our brain automatically creates problems if we don’t have any so it is impossible to eliminate stress but we can learn to manage it by taking part in sports.
According to the online survey conducted by ADDA, 14% people who have taken this online pool reported that they use regular exercise as a coping mechanism against anxiety.
Another research conducted by Harvard medical school found out that, aerobics activities reduce stress Hormones. They also elevate mood. Scientists also claimed that, sport activities trigger brain chemicals which uplift mood and makes you happy.
So, If you are worried because of your upcoming exams, GPA or encountering any other problems in your personal life, take part in physical activities going on in your school because believe me, there are countless advantages of sports.
2. Leadership skill
One of amazing advantages of sports is building leadership skills. Sports give an opportunity to the participants to develop leadership skill along with communication and team building. These are the skills that help them in their practical life.
They also make them a better leader. You can turn around the history of great leaders. They must be practicing this skill from early stage of their lives by participating and leading a team in their academic career
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Team work:
Team work is one of the basic skills developed by sports. All team members working towards one specific goal builds a sense of belonging, empathy, appreciation, and encouragement.
It is one of the most important skills which help in work life. People who have this skill have more chances of securing a good job. Employers choose people who establish a good healthy work- life relationship with their colleagues.
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Communication:
It is the most fundamental skill that is required in every walk of life whether its work or a personal life, communication is the key. Sports give participants an opportunity to meet different people which results in getting better communication skill.
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Decision making:
Taking a decision always seems harder whether its choosing a subject, proposing love of life or buying a new car we all stuck here. Decision making skill derives from courage. Students, who participate in sports, have excellent decision making skill.
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Problem solving skill:
This is the most needed skill for living a good life. If you don’t have it, you might get panic in difficult situation. Students who participate in sports have this most demanding skill in them and they face which enable them to face every challenge of life bravely.
3. Discipline
Discipline issues are rising in schools which results in dropping lots of students. A sport is a powerful tool for creating self discipline among students.
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Sports as a source of getting out frustration
One of surprising advantages of sports is getting out the frustration. Students are really aggressive these days. They have anger issues which make them frustrated.
Sports is a great way of expelling all those negative emotions so they can be more disciplined, concentrate better, and stay focused.
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Goals are the foundation of self-discipline
Having a goal, sticking to it, and thriving to achieve it by constant practice is an excellent way to develop self discipline. Luckily, sports are a huge opportunity to develop self discipline by having a goal and striving to achieve it.
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Sports foster better classroom discipline
Studies have shown that, students who actively participate in physical activities, when reached in 4rth grade become much more disciplined. They listen to the instructions, rules & regulations, and follow them.
4. Social skills
Sports develop social skills. Students learn social skill through from their parents, teachers and peers. Participating in sports adds one more channel of acquiring social skill.
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Making new friends and building relationships
Participating in sports means getting an opportunity to meet new people and make friends! Students who participate in sports meet with new people and build strong relationships even when the sport events end.
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Emotional skill
Winning and losing makes students emotionally strong. Sports also teach them to respect adversity and others point of view, which results in having better social relationships. Students who participate in Athletes are much more matured than their peers.
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Better communication and listening skills
Another advantages of sports are better communication and listening skills. Communication is one of the fundamental skill set that is necessary for living a better life. If you are not a good communicator, you are of no use.
Interacting with people through sports, gives you an opportunity to express yourself freely which result in better communication skills. Remember? Humans are the social animals!
Sports also create a better listening skill among students when they actively listen to their coaches or teachers while learning about some new game or getting instructions about some game.
They actively listen, concentrate, absorb all the information, and then ask questions which improves their communication skill and makes them much more confident.
5. Health:
What comes in your mind when you think about exercise? May be an image of a person doing intense workout sweating horrible comes in your mind.
But wait! Hold on You can achieve your fitness goal without doing intense workouts which horrifies you too much from stepping in and achieving your fitness goal.
What If I tell you a secret of achieving a healthy body and perfect weight? The secret is…You can achieve your dream body by just participating in sports events which happen all year in your school.
Other Advantages of sports:
Some of the health benefits of sports are:
- Getting strong muscles
- Sports act as a barrier against cancer
- They fight against stress and improves brain function
- Regular body exercise improves lungs
- Heart is a muscle; it needs movement to stay healthy. Physical activities keep that muscle healthy!
- Physical activity increase flexibility which reduces risk of getting injured.
- Sports reduce HDL (bad cholesterol level) and improves HDL (good cholesterol level)
- Sports burn calories which ultimately reduce risk of obesity.
A study conducted by the British journal of sports medicine showed that participation in swimming, racket sports, and aerobics reduce mortality rates.
The reduction was estimated 41% because of swimming, 56% by playing racket sports, and 36% because of participating in aerobics
6. Leading advantages of sports: improved body image
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Body image:
Body image is a person’s perception about himself or how he visualizes and thinks about himself.
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How to improve body image?
One of another advantages of sports is improved body image. We all feel that motivation of starting a workout, we are so motivated that one day, we decided to change the world by joining gym or starting doing intense workouts at home.
Then boom! The next day, we can’t get ourselves out of bed and swear not to do exercise again. I suggest taking small baby steps is better than jumping right into it and hurling ourselves.
This small step can yield fruitful results even it might be participating in a sports activity going on in your school which you feel most passionate about.
What If I tell you that this simple step can make you more beautiful and can improve your body image?
Research says that, Physical activities increase oxygen and blood flow, which gives natural glow to your skin and improves your skin complexion. It also improves your overall health and decrease risks of getting obesity which creates negative body image.
7. Reduce risk of diabetes
Diabetes is one of leading causes of deaths all around the world. Though, death is inevitable but reduction in diabetes is also one of advantages of sports.
Americans diabetic associations found that aerobic exercises with the combination of other muscular exercises lower pre-diabetics, type 2 diabetics and diabetics in general. Examples of these exercises are: cycling, swimming, skiing, running, and tennis.
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Physical activities lower sugar level
Physical activities such as cycling, swimming, table tennis, badminton, and running lower your blood sugar level which reduces the risk of diabetes. If you already have diabetes, check your sugar level before doing PA. It most should be 100.
If it is below 100, eat a piece of fruit to balance it. Check it again after 30 mints of doing PA. It would be great if you check it after doing physical activity.
Always keep a candy or other piece of food so if your sugar level drops down during exercise, you can balance it.
When we do some physical activity, our body converts glucose into energy which results in improving mood and overall health.
8. Lowers blood pressure
Participating in physical activity is a great way of reducing blood pressure disease. If you involve in regular physical activity, your health will be stronger that will pump blood without putting any pressure on your arteries.
Mayo clinic found out that regular aerobic activities lower blood pressure. It suggests less intense physical activities for people who have high blood pressure.
Any exercise which makes you a little bit warm by increasing your heart rate even it’s digging your garden, can reduce blood pressure. Remember that blood pressure increases for a while during exercise but it gets back to its normal pace after exercise.
You should not do any intense physical activity. Kindly speak to your sports coach or a doctor first before starting out any intense activity.
For more information you can check out our detailed blog post blood pressure during exercise
9. Helps getting better sleep
Are you feeling stressed because of exams? Not getting sleep because of stress and now getting stress of not falling sleep? This is normal and can happen with any of us.
When is the last time you take participation in sports activities happening in your school? Didn’t remember right? I have good news for you. Getting yourself enrolled in sports can help you sleep better. Don’t believe it?
The National sleep foundation found out that, regular exercise helps those people who struggle with getting sleep.
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Physical activities that help in better sleep
Are you now wondering which type of physical activities would be more helpful in getting quality sleep? Don’t worry; I will help you with this.
There are basically two types of exercises: Aerobic exercises and non- aerobic exercise.
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Aerobic exercises
They are more than ten minutes and increase your heart rate. Aerobic exercises are gentle in nature. Examples of aerobic exercises are walking, running, jogging, swimming, badminton, and table tennis.
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Non-Aerobic exercises
They are any exercises that increase heart beat for a short period of time and they are intense in nature. Examples of non-aerobic exercises are intense workouts and weight uplifting exercises.
Now you might wonder which exercises helps more in getting better sleep. Then the answer is aerobic exercises. Why? Because they keep you busy for a long period of time which makes your body tired during the day which results in better sleep at night.
10. Better academic performance
Sports require skills such as memory, recognition, and practice that’s why, students who takes part in physical activities performs exceptionally well academically.
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Choosing a profession:
Students who recognize sports as their passion in the early stage of their lives and decide to make it a career, have a clear mind set about what they want to be and why they want it.
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One of surprising advantage of sports is staying on the right track:
Coaches teach athletic students to stay away from bad habits such as smoking and taking drugs because these harmful activities can damage their sports career.
11. Confidence and self-esteem
Sports are one of rare activities which provide feedback instantly. In sports, hard work of Thursday can be paid off on Friday. Coaches also provide feedback on one-on- one basis which boosts self confidence and self esteem.
Conclusion:
To wrap up, getting involved in extra-co curricular activities such as sports can be so much beneficial for your productivity and overall health which I have already discussed above.
So I encourage you to take part in physical activities and stay more active. If you find anything helpful in this article and tried it, tell us in the comment section below. We would love to hear from you! J
Sources:
Ways to reduce stress through exercising
Prevent risk of diabetes through physical activities
Physical activities lower blood pressure
