Sport is an essential complement to balance mind and body. Find out below what are the best sports to keep us healthy
Practicing physical activity has infinite benefits for our health, from reducing the possibility of diseases such as cholesterol and diabetes, contributing to the rehabilitation of injuries, and delaying aging. Along with this, sport helps our minds to release stress and achieve a natural balance with the body.
Currently the variety of sports and disciplines to exercise and incorporate physical activity as part of our routine is enormous. Within this list there are some specific sports that focus on working specific areas of our body or on developing certain skills such as balance, reflexes, or concentration.
On the other hand, there are those that can be considered as the most complete sports, since they allow us to work several aspects at the same time achieving that our body does an integral work.
Swimming
This sport, with high cardiovascular resistance, allows us to exercise all the muscles of our body as well as to favor the work of the heart and lungs, also helping in the respiratory processes. At the same time, thanks to the fact that the weight of our body is reduced by immersion in water, swimming has the advantage that the chances of injury when exercising are lower than in other types of physical activity.
Swimming favors also the flexibility and elasticity of our body that is why it is also recommended for the rehabilitation of spinal problems and muscle or joint injuries. It is also estimated that, depending on the intensity of work, through this sport we can burn up to 350 calories in 30 minutes. On the other hand, swimming also allows us to release energy and rest our mind, providing sensations of relief and relaxation, especially when we are exposed to situations of stress.
Cycling
Lungs, heart, and blood circulation will benefit if we practice cycling. In addition to reducing blood fat levels and stimulating blood flow, this physical activity can reduce the probability of cardiovascular disease by up to 50%.
On the other hand, sport on the bicycle will help us lose weight and increase the pace of our metabolism, significantly reducing body fat.
When we carry out this sport activity, most of the muscles come into play, above all and thanks to pedaling, those that are in the lower part such as glutes, twins and quadriceps. Therefore cycling will strengthen your legs while also working other areas such as the abdominal, lumbar and pectoral, which will be helping stability on the bike. Its characteristics will also develop skills such as body balance and coordination.
Squash
This sport, which maintains similarities with the fronton and tennis, is considered by experts as one of the most complete in the world, allowing to burn more than 500 calories in half an hour of work. The cardiovascular resistance that this activity implies is high and it is a sport that involves all the parts of the body.
At the same time this sport requires different skills such as reflexes, attention, ball control, etc; international sports evaluations have placed squash at the top of the ranking in terms of muscular endurance and calorie burn.
Due to its characteristics, squash favors the development of skills such as speed, agility of reaction, coordination and balance. It also helps reduce stress and release tension.
Football
One of the most popular and practiced sports in the world, if not the most, is football, which is also considered one of the most complete and healthy. This activity, which requires great physical resistance, includes, among other benefits, the increase in strength, flexibility and bone density.
For his great aerobic work in addition, soccer allows to burn almost all the body fat and eliminate more than 400 calories in just 30 minutes, thus collaborating in the prevention of diseases such as overweight and cholesterol.
In regards to the mind, the foot ball allows to develop skills such as concentration, teamwork and self confidence.
Rowing
Some specialists talk about this as the second most complete sport, as a result of the physical effort required in the upper and lower extremities. About 300 calories is estimated to burn the oar in a period of 30 minutes, in addition to demanding high cardiovascular resistance.
The push movements of the boat with legs and arms not only strongly strengthen the muscles of the body-shoulders, abdominals, quadriceps, etc.-but also put into play the development of coordination and skills to achieve a common goal as a team.
Beyond the benefits that each sport has in particular, at a medical level it has been proven that doing any type of physical exercise-ideally 2 to 3 times a week-favors our body and mind to a great extent. The practice of sports oxygenates our brain and causes our body to generate endorphins, also known as "happiness hormones", which generate in us feelings of well-being and optimism, reducing the risks of suffering anxiety, depression or stress, diseases characteristic of our time as a result of the rhythms of life that they take.