A lot of people take up sports to get into shape. Indeed, someone may feel that they are not getting enough exercise and will want to get fit to improve their health and their body. Playing sport allows muscles to relax and gets your body fit. The key improvements of fitness that sports provide are cardiovascular and strength. Cardiovascular involves the improvement of stamina and improves lung capacity. Strength comes from the muscles shaping patterns during heavy movement. Both are evident in many sports that help with fitness and below are five top sports that you can take up to make you more fit:
Running is a good sport to take up for fitness. Many health clubs have running clubs you can join - they not only give you an incentive to keep it up but also to start you off slowly and as you get more and more into it to get faster. Others enter marathons and fun runs. Running helps build up stamina and your cardiovascular system, as well as being good for your heart. This is because as you run your heart muscle becomes stronger and strengthens your metabolism in general. As you run you are losing weight and burning off calories. Running is taken up by a lot of people who take morning jogs, do marathons and join running clubs.
Cycling is also good for fitness. Many people, for example, cycle to and from work and many feel this actually gets them in the right health and frame of mind to start the working day well. Cycling helps burn off the calories and keep stamina up, you can even cycle with groups of people specifically for fitness purposes and many people do this, usually on summer weekends. Cycling is also good for a lower body workout, with good pressure on arm and leg muscles working at a fast pace. The intense endurance required is a good way of getting in shape.
Swimming is another key sport to help you keep fit. Many people have different swimming abilities and increasing your proficiency swimming will give you confidence and can help your muscles and develop your fitness. It is also one of the main sports which helps children get fit as many schools have their own swimming pools. Many health clubs and leisure centres also offer swimming classes to children. The good thing about swimming is that the buoyancy of your body means less stress is placed on your body. It can also be a relaxing sport and health clubs, for example, provide large swimming pools for this purpose. Swimming is good for cardiovascular health as you learn more and the more you feel you can swim at long distances.
Weightlifting is considered a sport, indeed an Olympic sport. Weightlifting is a popular fitness method in gyms. Evidently it brings changes to the body, but there are health benefits other than just bulking up. Weightlifting can improve blood flow to the heart, preventing rising heart rates. It is, however, not good to overdo it but is great for making your body stronger and your heart muscles stronger as well.
Badminton is a good sport for fitness and is a very popular sport at health clubs. It will be difficult not to find a fitness centre that does not provide badminton as a sport as part of their fitness programme. It strengthens arm muscles, back and the abdomen. Cardiovascular muscles and arm strength is also improved. Moving around for shots also helps with stamina.
These five top sports for fitness are good for the body and heart. Running, cycling and swimming can all make up triathlons and many combine these to increase their fitness further. It is always good to get involved with several sports as they help get your fitness up and generally improve your health. Gyms and health clubs encourage sports like these, but they can also be undertaken on your own initiative.
Glenn Tucker
Esporta Health Club and Gym
About the Author
Esporta health club and gym - Whether you are looking to get fit and lose weight in the gym, relax and unwind with your family, treat yourself to a Spa Day or meet and socialise with like-minded people then Esporta have the facilities to match.
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