It’s been a tough twelve months for the human population who have had to adapt their lifestyle like never before. Many of our work situations have changed and masks must be worn everywhere as standard practice. Our health and wellbeing has also been impacted, mentally and physically, so how do we bounce back this year? One answer is basketball.
HEART HEALTH
Are you the sort of person who doesn’t think about their heart health often? Maybe you are still fairly young and have no reason to concern yourself with it. Conversely, you might worry about it often, since heart conditions run in your family.
The heart is a muscle and like other muscles in the body it needs to be exercised regularly to stay healthy and strong. Exercising your heart muscle through intensive exercise is a good way to ensure it stays healthy and free from illness in later life. Since basketball is so intensive, it’s an excellent way to improve your heart health.
Like circuit training basketball is an intensive form of exercise. There are a lot of stops and starts, as well as a short burst of speed. This is far more effective for your heart health than simply raising the heart rate with jogging or running.
MUSCLE BUILDING
How healthy are your muscles these days? Do you look in the mirror and notice they are soft and sagging, or are they firm and well tuned; perhaps they’re somewhere in between. The fact is that improving the condition of your muscles can impact everyday every aspect of your life.
It’s been a long difficult winter for many people, both mentally and physically. However, the body is a system and one aspect affects another. The physical side of things co tributes greatly to your mental wellbeing, and both have been affected over the pandemic lockdowns.
There now looks to be an end in sight for many of the restrictions meaning there are more opportunities to build muscles in the traditional way, that is through active fitness practices like basketball. Since basketball requires strength in both the upper and lower body it is an excellent way to improve your muscle density fast.
GENERAL FITNESS
What has been your fitness regime over the past twelve months? Do you run in the local park, do yoga in front of the computer before work, or lift weights in your garage? Perhaps you do none of these and your fitness levels have fallen through the floor. Don’t worry.
This year has taken its toll on the body. The vast majority of people have been confined to their homes and restricted in the type of activities they can do. As a result general fitness levels have been in decline which affects every aspect of health and wellbeing.
One way to bring your general fitness levels back up to where they should be is with basketball. During an average basketball game, like the ones from the NHL 2019-20 Season players run five miles and benefit from some intense interval training. It will be tough at first but if you persevere you will be back to you best in no time.
BONE STRENGTH
As we age our bones tend to lose their strength dn become more prone to breaking. This is something many people don’t realize since bone health is only noticeable when something goes wrong. Since that doesn’t happen until later life it is commonly overlooked.
Playing basketball regularly is one way you can keep your bones from losing their strength and density. Basketball requires many shifts and changes in direction which strengthens the muscles around the bones and also provides adequate stress to keep bones from weakening.
MENTAL SHARPNESS
Another aspect of the pandemic we need to be aware of is the effects on our mental health. You might think you have good mental health and that you are unaffected by global events, but stress can get in from unknown places and affect your life.
Do you find that you overthink or feel anxious at certain times of the day or night? You might think this is normal for you or that there is nothing much you can do about it. The reality is that staying at home for long periods and feeling restricted all contributes to and affects your mental health.
Basketball is an excellent way to improve your mental health because it requires intelligence, concentration, and creativity. When You spend all your time in the house or in the same environment, your brain gets familiar with the stimuli and switches off. You need to challenge it regularly.
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