Former American football player and coach, Mike Singletary once said, "Do you know what my favourite part of the game is? The opportunity to play."
While sports are usually viewed as competitive games, they are first and foremost physical activities with many benefits, whether to improve our physical health or enhance our mental wellbeing.
Instead of fixating on achieving results based on sports participation, let us not forget the element of play whenever we learn a new sport.
In this article, we will study the five significances of learning a new sport from multiple angles and see how these combinations can make you a healthier and happier person in 2024.
Significance 1: A Good Way To Manage Stress
Research has shown that sports and exercises that are aerobic in nature can reduce the level of stress hormones in our body such as cortisol and adrenaline.
Science students might be familiar with the fight or flight response that is stimulated by the adrenaline hormone whenever a stressful situation arises.
We need to understand that the fight or flight response is a survival mechanism that humans depend on to respond immediately to escape dangerous/stressful situations.
However, if we are constantly in a prolonged state of being alert and heightened due to a high level of stress hormones, it can cause harm to our physical and mental health in the long run.
This is where learning a new sport can counter this situation. When you are engaged in sports and when you sweat things out, your brain is also releasing another hormone — endorphins.
In simple terms, endorphins can help to elevate your mood (have a feel-good factor) and enable you to cope better during stressful situations.
Some examples of aerobic sports activities that can help you boost the level of endorphins include:
- Swimming
- Cycling
- Jogging
- Rowing
- Tennis and others
Getting involved in sports can certainly help to improve your overall mental well-being in the long run. The more active you are, the more likely you will have a higher self-esteem too.
It gives you a sense of satisfaction that you are sticking to a commitment to healthy living. Also, whenever you are playing the sport, your entire focus will be on the game or completing a routine. It allows you to "withdraw" from being too immersed in your unpleasant emotions.
For instance, when you are committed to cycling for about 5km, you only need to focus on pedalling and make sure you reach your destination safely.
Better start wearing your sports shoes to sweat that stress away!
Photo by Vince Fleming on Unsplash
Significance 2: Improve Your Fitness Level and Energy Level
Whenever you consistently engage in a new sport, one thing is certain. Your fitness level will certainly increase.
Your overall stamina will also improve. Not only that, it will help you to enhance your body coordination, body flexibility, muscle strength and most importantly, cardiovascular health.
We got you covered with the following list where you can review which sports to pick up.
Sports that enhance body coordination
- Badminton
- Table tennis
- Fencing
- Volleyball
Sports that enhance body flexibility
- Dance
- Golf
- Swimming
- Cycling
Sports that enhance muscle strength
- Basketball
- Hockey
- Football
- Powerlifting
Sports that enhance cardiovascular health
- Tennis
- Boxing
- Running
- Rowing
If you are totally new to any of these sports mentioned above and unsure where to start, you can always enrol in one-to-one lessons with a private tutor.
At Superprof, you can find an experienced and reliable tutor whether it is personal training or a series of lessons to master the basics of a sport.
As soon as you visit the Superprof homepage, you can browse through the tutors' profiles according to your preferred city, different learning levels, subjects (in this case, types of sports) and even according to countries (for those who are open to online lessons).
Not only that, you can also access the essential information about the subject/sports that you are interested in learning such as the average price (for instance, RM50 an hour), the average response time of the tutor (3 hours), the number of tutors that are available to teach this subject, and also the offered lesson format (face-to-face and online).
Having a private tutor can certainly make the whole learning process simpler and more engaging. You can also receive immediate feedback about your posture, playing techniques and also keep track of your progress.
If you are reading this, this is certainly your cue to lead a healthier and fitter life in 2024.
Significance 3: Fun Way To Lose Weight and Get in Shape
Let's be honest.
Is it more fun to go on a diet or for more fun to learn a new sport when it comes to losing weight?
We are 100% certain that you know it's the latter.
When you engage in active physical sports, your body is bound to burn calories regardless of your original weight.
The more consistent you are at exercising or participating in a sports routine, the more chance you'll have at losing weight.
For some of you whose goal is not to lose weight but to maintain a healthy waistline and have toned muscles, you can also engage in a sports routine.
Not only that, you don't have to feel guilty if you have an extra ice cream during a birthday celebration if you actively play sports at least twice a week.
You might want to set up your upcoming New Year's Resolutions and come out with a feasible and fun way to lose weight progressively throughout the year.
That's why we highly recommend you to pick a sport that you are most likely to enjoy. If you enjoy an indoor playing environment and a competitive game, you can consider picking up badminton or table tennis for instance.
Photo by Muktasim Azlan on Unsplash
Engaging in a fun sport can be a good motivator to stay fit and healthy because it is an enjoyable process.
This leads us nicely to our next point.
Significance 4: Meet New People And Build New Friendships
Some sports require us to play in pairs or groups.
Even in the case of dancing, it does take two to tango.
Learning a new sport is a great way to meet different individuals who are from different age groups and expand your social circle. For example, after taking some tutoring lessons, you might want to join a sports club to have a fixed playing time and training venue.
That way, you not only get to befriend your "opponent", but you also get to have some relaxing tea time or conversations in between breaks or after a few sets of games.
There's a Chinese saying that goes: Friendship comes first before the results of competitions. 友谊第一，比赛第二.
This is evident through many real-life instances where we can see through schooling days. Team players tend to gather together to build friendships, chemistry, and naturally cultivate solid teamwork with one another.
When you pick up a new sport, you not only get to discuss playing techniques but also ways to live healthy through your diet or daily habits. For instance, you can organise a vegetarian potluck (both healthy and Earth-friendly at the same time) with your fellow sports buddies.
Significance 5: Cultivate Self-Discipline and Resilience
We have now come to our final point.
Many of us are drawn to sports for various reasons. Whether it is due to a personal passion or due to a common family bonding activity, we cannot deny that sports is a beautiful activity that is driven by positive values and attitudes.
In fact, that is the essence of why we root for underdogs in a game or we cry alongside some athletes when we have witnessed their ups and downs before they stand up with glory on the highest podium.
Sports allow us to cultivate a spirit of self-discipline and commitment.
Think about it, we dedicate our precious time to learning the basics and continuously train to be better. If you only have the early mornings to cycle, for instance, you wake up on time to finish your cycling lap — it's only possible because of self-discipline.
Photo by Florian Kurrasch on Unsplash
During the course of engaging in the sports, we put our 100% focus on completing them. It's not about how fast you get there, but it's the build-up process that drives you to do it again and again. In time, your speed and power will catch up too!
Now, what about the times we fail the first round, the second round, or the consecutive round?
We learn how to bounce back. We repeat the same posture and same action until we get them right. Some of us might take a longer time but it doesn't matter. Sports teach us to embrace challenges with a positive spirit and to focus on finishing the race well.
It's about practising resilience, which also applies to stressful moments or even when we face an unexpected injury.
Engagement in sports will not only help to build and tone our physical muscles but also our willpower muscles. You get to care for your physical health and mental health at the same time.
Well, if you are looking for some relaxing activities on days you are not exercising, we also have some suggestions.
You can dive deep into the world of painting as well as explore some handcraft and DIY fun. To be immersed in an art-related activity, you definitely need to be focused and determined to complete it.
It's important to remember the same principle is applied to these two activities, be it in sports or arts.
To wrap up this article, we assure you that you will not regret picking a new sport in 2024. You will surely reap the sweet rewards in due time.
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