Are you thinking about playing basketball but feel uncertain if it’s worth your time and effort to learn a whole new sport?
Regardless of what you might believe, you don’t need to be the next Michael Jorden to start living a healthier and happier life by playing basketball. There are many benefits to picking up the sport. Not only does it help your body become more healthy, but it will also improve how your brain works.
If you want to find out the great health benefits of playing basketball, read on and we’ll tell you what you need to know.
1. Playing Basketball Will Help You Improve Your Cardiovascular Health
Since playing basketball involves using so many parts of your body, you’ll get a well-rounded workout while you’re out on the court. While you’re involved in a friendly pick-up game, you often get lost in the action. It’s often the case that you don’t realize until after the game is over that you’ve been sweating and gasping for breath.
When you feel this way, you can rest assured that your heart has been racing and that it’s been pumping plenty of blood throughout your body. If you start playing basketball on a consistent basis, you’re bound to start feeling like you can run farther and go faster because you’ve been improving your cardiovascular health.
Not only does playing basketball consistently help your heart and lungs get healthier, but it’s also one of the easiest ways to get better at basketball.
2. Playing Basketball Helps Your Muscles Get Stronger
When you play a game of basketball you’ll need to be doing lots of running, leaping, dribbling, and of course, taking plenty of shots. All of these movements help to make your muscles grow and develop.
As you start getting better at the sport, you’ll start becoming more agile and you’ll notice that you’re able to move more swiftly. You’ll also need to start flexing new muscles that you might not have known that you had. This is why basketball is such helpful activity for developing muscles.
3. You’ll Develop Better Coordination and Will Have a Better Sense of Balance
Any sport that involves focusing different parts of your body in different ways in order to accomplish a single task will help you improve your coordination. Basketball is no exception.
In order to play the sport, you need to do many things at once such as dribbling, running, and making quick decisions. One of the most important kinds of coordination that playing basketball will help you do develop is hand-eye-foot coordination.
4. Improving Your Mental Development
The best basketball players need to always be in a state of deep concentration so that they can anticipate what their opponents are doing to do and so that they can act quickly.
Basketball is a high-speed sport that has no space for contemplating what to do next. The best basketball players say that you need to be thinking while you are on your toes.
Even though you need to act quickly in order to become a great basketball player, you also need to develop strategies in your mind. As you play basketball more often you’ll get better at acting quickly while at the same time developing strategies with your mind.
5. Playing Basketball Will Help You Develop Your Spatial Awareness
Basketball is a game about relationships. You always need to be thinking about where you are on the court.
You need to know whether or not you’re close to running out of bounds and how close you are to the hoop. You also need to be aware of where your teammates are in relation to your opponents so that you can make clear decisions of whether it is a good moment to pass the ball or if it is better to take a shot.
Through practice, you’ll eventually learn how to work with space in the best possible way. Like any other skill that’s involved with playing basketball, this is an ability that you’ll be able to use in many situations when you’re off of the court.
6. You’ll Reduce Your Stress
When you’re moving quickly back and forth across the court, you’re triggering your body to produce endorphins. People often refer to these chemicals as happiness hormones. They will make you feel happier, and help you feel more self-confident.
7. You’ll Burn Calories
If you’re trying to lose weight, basketball is a great way to do it. For every hour that you spend on the court, not only will you be getting a great workout but you will also be losing weight.
Even if losing weight is not your goal for playing basketball, it’s a healthy thing to take part in aerobic activities like basketball. You’ll start feeling better on and off the court, which is one of a long list of basketball benefits.
Even though it doesn’t matter if you have the best basketball shoes or not while you’re playing basketball to burn calories, it can’t hurt to invest in a great pair of sneakers to use while you’re on the court. You can click here to find out more.
8. You’ll Become a Better Team Player
While you get more experience with playing on a team, you’ll become better at interacting with people in positive ways. Whether it be your teammates or your opponents, there is an important skill that you can learn by engaging in friendly competition. This will offer you a lifetime benefit and will probably help you to make new friends.
Start Playing Basketball Today
Even if you’re just learning how to play the sport, there are many benefits of playing basketball on a regular basis. You’ll burn calories, build muscle, develop better coordination, and will become better at working with a team.
If you want to find out more about the benefits of playing sports, don’t forget to check out the Health & Fitness section of our blog where we publish many informative articles on this subject.
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