Since childhood, we regularly hear loud phrases about the benefits and necessity of playing sports. We are convinced that a healthy mind can only live in a healthy body, that sport is a real cure for degradation, as well as a means for a full-scale fight against alcoholism and drug addiction.
We confirm the importance of sport and agree with all these statements, since they actually contain a rational grain. But what benefit can be found from sports if we bypass all these big phrases and try to analyze the situation more deeply? Why is sport so important and how can it change it for the better? Why do you need to play sports? What is its role in a person's daily life?
The importance of sport in human life
Of course, the first thing that comes to mind is physical training. Regular exercise helps keep muscles toned, get rid of fat deposits, and look slim and beautiful. Thanks to the active propaganda and educational work of valeologists, the enormous importance of sports in human life today is known to everyone. However, sport can give us much more obvious benefits to the body.
Regular exercise helps maintain discipline.
Like any other regular activity, exercise helps build self-discipline. Forcing yourself to play sports means starting its development. The role of sport in this regard is very great. Getting into the habit of exercising every day will give your schedule a starting point. Based on it, you can make planning your everyday life more clear and stable. In addition, it will be easier for you to show discipline in other areas of your life: you can train yourself to wake up every day when the alarm clock rings (and sometimes even without it), come to meetings on time, learn a new language, and so on.
Physical exercise improves your mood.
During sports, the human body produces endorphins, which are also called happiness hormones. You just have to overcome the barrier of laziness and jog along the path for at least ten to fifteen minutes - and you will be guaranteed an elevated mood after a shower. How to start playing sports with pleasure? Just devote at least fifteen minutes to it. This is a wonderful way to get rid of short-term and long-term depression. Physical exercise will be an excellent alternative to “eating problems.” Fight sadness for the benefit of yourself and your body. When you have nothing to do, are bored and are busy aimlessly refreshing pages in your browser, for the sake of an experiment, give yourself a 20-minute exercise and see how your condition changes.
Physically strong people are more attractive to the opposite sex.
Since primitive times, every person, at the level of instincts, had the desire to continue the family line with a physically strong partner, who, if necessary, could defend the family. These instincts work perfectly in our time: strong guys enjoy the well-deserved attention of women, and fit girls instantly attract the admiring glances of men. This is why sport is important.
Regular exercise increases life expectancy.
Many could argue that during physical exercise, oxygen consumption increases, organs work more actively, which means the body wears out faster. This is partly true. However, untrained muscles may refuse to work at one not very pleasant moment. A weak heart will not cope with the flow of blood - and an attack will be guaranteed. Many older people exercise regularly without feeling much discomfort. Comparing them with their lazier peers, one can quite clearly bet on who will outlive whom.
Sport helps you live.
Why do you need to exercise every day? As already written above, regular physical exercise helps strengthen muscles and organs. This allows you to prevent many diseases, not to mention the fact that it allows you to feel better even in old age. Sport helps you live. In the gym you can meet like-minded people, on a morning jog you can meet positive people, and a grueling evening workout will help, contrary to logic, to relieve fatigue after work.
Crossfit
A fashion trend that rapidly gained popularity all over the world a few years ago. The creator describes his program as “constantly varying functional movements performed at high intensity across multiple time intervals and modal domains to enhance fitness.” The key word in CrossFit is functionality. It includes exercises from almost all the disciplines listed in this article, as well as from weightlifting, gymnastics, kettlebell lifting, plyometrics, strongman and others. By doing CrossFit, you will be able to lift, press, pull and push heavy weights, run fast and long, do a lot of pull-ups, push-ups, and do technically complex elements.
It’s not for nothing that the CrossFit world champion is called the most physically fit person in the world. Here is an example of a complex from the Crossfit Games (the main CrossFit competitions in the world):
Perform with a 9kg vest: Run 1600 meters 100 Pull-ups 200 Push-ups 300 Squats Run 1600 meters
Impressive, isn't it? Yes, you won't be as strong as a powerlifter or as durable as a marathon runner. But how many of you need to bench press 200kg or run marathons in your life?
The appearance of a CrossFit athlete is something between a runner and a jock. Thin, but quite muscular.
How does this affect life?
First and foremost, CrossFit is about endurance.
You will forget about shortness of breath. You can catch up with a bus or run up the stairs to the desired floor, carry packages from the store or dig up a potato field without straining. You will also lose excess weight very quickly, because such workouts burn an incredible amount of calories. CrossFit will also make you much more energetic. You will crawl out of training exhausted, but the next day you will feel 10-15 years younger. The training itself is very exciting: almost every set of tasks is a mini-competition with others and yourself. In addition, these complexes are practically never repeated, which eliminates monotony from training. CrossFit is often compared to physical fitness and circuit training in martial arts. But in fact, it is much wider and more varied.
This is roughly how a CrossFit workout goes (at least the second half of it)
By the way, CrossFit is great for clearing your head. During training, you will forget about all your problems and worries. You simply won’t be able to think about anything other than the routine you’re doing.
After watching videos of top athletes competing, people often say that CrossFit “acidifies the myocardium,” ruins joints, and so on. In fact, it is a scalable sport. You need to work at your own pace, and, preferably, with a heart rate monitor. Yes, this type of training requires you to push yourself, but a normal trainer will never work you to death.
Pros:
- exciting training;
- brutal endurance;
- not transcendental, but still great power;
- increased tone and energy;
- excellent, strong figure (subject to more or less proper nutrition).
Minuses:
- In the spirit of working at speed, you can forget about technology. Because of this, the risk of injury increases significantly;
- very intense and difficult workouts that are not suitable for everyone.
CrossFit is for you if:
- you are tired of monotonous and boring training from other sports;
- you want to be well-rounded;
- Do you enjoy training in company?
- you want to lose weight quickly.
The undeniable importance of sport
Playing sports is certainly important - we have known this since childhood. However, knowing and understanding are not the same thing. We need to be fully aware of all the benefits that exercise brings us. We must understand how to start playing sports with pleasure, and appreciate the role of sports specifically for our lives. We must be aware that the reluctance to exercise can sooner or later result in major health problems for each of us.
And if this is really the case, isn’t it easier to force yourself to exercise at least 30 minutes a day in order to feel in good shape for the rest of your life? If you cannot answer this question, then start at least small, for a test or experiment. Very soon you will realize that you don’t want to stop.
Street workout
This is what we call training on sports grounds today. Along with running, this is the most accessible sport. There are horizontal bars and parallel bars near every school, and the only equipment you will need is clothing.
Workout will not replace the whole variety of equipment and exercises in the gym, but it is quite enough to get your body in order and be in great shape. Pull-ups. push-ups on parallel bars, leg lifts to the bar and squats (preferably on one leg) - so you’ve pumped up your whole body. You won’t become a mass monster (after all, the working weights are not the same), but with due diligence you can achieve very impressive results, especially when working with additional weights.
How does this affect life?
Workout feels like a light version of training in the gym.
The same increase in strength and muscle mass, pleasant fatigue, only to a lesser extent. After training, you will feel much less tired. Maybe it’s the fresh air, or maybe it’s the lighter loads. Such workouts usually last less than in the gym. Plus, training outdoors is much more enjoyable.
Typical workout workout
Pros:
- availability;
- training does not require much time;
- getting injured is quite difficult;
- for free!
Minuses:
- You can comfortably exercise outside for 6-7 months a year. Not everyone will agree to winter training, and doing pull-ups in the rain is simply impossible. On the other hand, no one forbids you to do pull-ups and push-ups indoors (although this is not entirely True);
- Muscle growth may not be significant, especially if you are young or naturally thin.
Street workout is right for you if:
- you are just starting to train. It is not necessary to go to the gym; a horizontal bar and uneven bars will be enough;
- you don’t have extra money or time;
- you don't need a lot of muscle mass and strength.
Martial arts
A harsh, tough, exciting sport for real men. If you want to become the strongest and walk around your favorite area without fear, this is the place for you. The choice of disciplines is very diverse, but all of them are united by fairly serious physical training. The workouts are similar to CrossFit in terms of intensity and, partly, in structure. But, of course, the main emphasis here is on applied combat skills.
Fighters' figures are usually slender and muscular. Although, of course, it all depends on the type of sport and the individual.
Figure of a typical fighter
