Choose your Exercise Depending on Your Goals in Life

Exercise Together, Stay Longer

An Applause Works better than a Raise Sometimes!

Appreciation, praise and rewards boost our spirits and make us work harder. In an organization however hard you might work and meet requirements, the project is a success only when all team members do their part of work dedicatedly. The same holds true in the case of sports such as hockey, cricket and football. Excelling in something is appreciable whereas cooperating as a team and achieving success is noteworthy. Not all can be dedicated team players. It’s a skill that one must acquire for the benefit of the individual as well as the team. Sometime back if someone had questions on the best form of exercise to practice, he/she would have got an answer straight away to pursue the one that he/she enjoys. There have been articles on different exercise forms suitable for different kinds of people. For example, the introvert might prefer to go for a walk whereas an extrovert would find it amazing to enroll for a Zumba group class. But now, a new study has come up with the research that people who participate in team-based activities reap greater advantages over individual-based exercises.

Greater Inspiration through Better Coordination
Football, tennis and badminton reap greater benefits than swimming, cycling or doing gym exercises. That’s purely because your interactions and coordination in team-based or partner-based activities add up to the benefits of physical activity even as much as improving your longevity. We are in love with the social media and there are evidences suggesting that posting selfies on these media sites pave way for better weight loss results (Visit the website www.firsteatright.com for more details on the study). What’s the underlying reason behind all these?

Love & Affection Bond our Lives
We are born alone into this world and we die alone. In between birth and death is the journey of life and the various people we meet are fellow passengers who get on and off at different junctures. Our lives revolve around the people we live with, interact and bond over. Weight loss posted on social media sites improve results due to the appreciation and positive feedbacks given by our friends which motivate us to work harder. Receiving the best performer award is a recognition which pleases the performer, leaving a positive comment on your mom’s food motivates her to cook much more varieties and appreciating a child’s effort in completing his/her school work brings about even greater results. Such things improve our mental well being which exists as the basis of a happy life. With exercise too, if health and well-being are primary concerns then choosing partner-based or team-based exercises are best for the individual.

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Individuals Rarely Miss Out on a Game-based Exercise

‘Associated’ Longevity
A study was conducted on 8500 individuals who had no history of cancer, heart attack or stroke for a period of 25 years. These people were given a comprehensive health and lifestyle questionnaire which included questions on the type, frequency and duration of physical activity performed. They were followed-up for 25 years during which 4500 of them died. Many of them replied that they did a variety of activities every week but were asked to choose one as their primary exercise form in the questionnaire. The researchers used this exercise form mentioned to check for longevity after adjusting factors such as education, drinking habits and socioeconomic background.
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Results showed a crystal-clear connection between social sports and longevity. People’s lifespan increased depending on the game/exercise they chose to perform-tennis players reaped maximum benefit as this added 9.7 years to their lifespan, badminton extended life by 6.2 years, soccer by 4.7 years, cycling by 3.7 years, swimming by 3.4 years, jogging by 3.2 years, calisthenics by 3.1 years and health club activities by 1.5 years.

Though the duration is not known exactly, it doesn’t matter too much as gym-goers who reported more than 600 minutes of total physical activity every week of which gym routine occupies 150 of those minutes reported least longevity years compared to tennis players who reported using the racquet for 100 minutes of their total 520 minutes of activity per week.

There’s evidence piling up supporting the link between social interaction and good health and also evidences support that doing moderate-intensity exercise is good for longer life than practicing vigorous-intensity exercise over the period. Increasing the intensity and upping heart rate might feel satisfactory at that point but it doesn’t make you happy, feel relaxed or energetic as a game of tennis or soccer. Tennis helps you bond with your partner during the game. Running and weight lifting too are good for your heart health and strength.

Something is Better than Nothing
Overall, involving in any form of exercise is better than not exercising at all. Any form of physical activity that involves playing is a double bonanza as it not only invokes muscle strength and heart health but also benefits your mind giving you emotional strength and bonding. Also, you are likelier to forego a gym session quoting excuses but unlikely to miss out on a game of tennis as you have someone waiting for you and whose workout is dependent on your presence. Hence, game-based exercises improve consistency and in turn longevity.

Take out your badminton racquets, kick your football and enjoy your game reliving childhood days. You will surely realize on how much fun you have been missing all these years. 

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