Healthy Living: Indulging in Sports

Healthy Living: Indulging in Sports

Indulging in sports and outdoor activities can make you a healthier and fitter person both physically and mentally. Let’s take a look at few of the top reasons why you should be out there having some fun right now rather than staring at your screen!
1. Goodbye stress: Is life giving you lemons? Put on your sports shoes, go for a run, come back drenched in sweat, sip on the fresh lemonade you just made and voila! The lemons have been taken care of, and you are now eagerly awaiting fresh ones. Okay, what I mean by that is that working out can effectively reduce stress and prepare you for future challenges.
2. Natural anti-depressant: If you have been feeling them blues lately then prescribe yourself some exercise! Exercising for a few hours every week has been proven to increase the production of neurotransmitters such as endorphins and nor-epinephrine. These chemicals are responsible for a healthy brain function, and lower levels have been linked to vulnerability to depression.
3. Battle addiction: Dopamine is a ‘feel good’ chemical present in our bodies. We normally produce dopamine in response to exciting and stimulating activities like eating, exercising, sex and sadly, consumption of alcohol and drugs. People become addicted to such negative substances as they act as a source of anywhere, any time dopamine. Don’t you think a much healthier alternative to feeling good would be exercising? Exercising is highly recommended to those who are battling addiction and can help prevent relapse.
4. Boost creativity: Incorporating exercise in your daily routine can actually spark creativity in you. Recent studies found that regular exercise can boost the creative process of the brain by improving convergent and divergent thinking. While the former is concerned with coming up with the correct answer to a problem, the latter is a purely creative thought process.
5. A lighter you: It’s a known fact that indulging in physical activity burns calories and keeps you fit. Breaking a sweat can do wonders for you if you want to reduce weight. Just make sure you are wearing sportswear and not ordinary clothes when you hit the gym. Fitness clothing is specially designed to improve your performance by regulating the rate at which your body sweats and prolongs the duration before you exert yourself.
6. Cure insomnia: Lifting weights in the gym, going for a walk or playing a game of football all have a somewhat similar effect on the body. The body works hard and tires itself at the moment and demands rest by signalling the brain. Hence, resulting in deeper sleep cycles.
7. Bigger, better, faster, and stronger: ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’ and that’s exactly what happens when you indulge in sports. When you work out, your body breaks the existing cell tissues causing the notorious muscle soreness. This damage is repaired and newer and bigger muscles are formed when you are resting. Now the fastest way to build muscles is by enrolling yourself in a gym. However, inadequate gym wear can cause injuries and must be avoided at all costs.
This is a Guest post by Parul Chahal, Jabong.

Parul Chahal is a fitness freak who likes to engage in various sports to stay active. Being a passionate writer, she likes to pen down her fitness stories to keep her readers abreast of how sports and outdoor activities can help us feel good.