Recently, I was having a chat with a mate who is as regular at badminton as clockwork. He explained he has always been good at the sport but the chief reason why he loves playing badminton is it brings out his competitive juices.
And that gets him into the kind of mindset he loves.
“Win or lose, therefore, it spreads the happy hormones in me,” he concluded.
That’s one of the multiple reasons why one can take up badminton – or any sport for that matter – on a regular basis. There are other reasons too and those are something we would like to discuss in the piece below.
Playing sport in general has many health benefits associated with it. Specifically speaking, we have been asked multiple times if the same applies to badminton.
Can playing badminton improve one’s health? Much like most other sports, there are quite a few health benefits one can derive out of badminton and if you are looking for exact reasons to take up badminton, here’s an in-depth list.
The longer answer is as follows, one that details how a regular session of badminton entails a plethora of health benefits.
Assuming you are already a fan of badminton given you are reading this, you can definitely feel happy about what is a great hobby and the fact it also comes with its health aids.
Here’re the various health benefits associated with playing badminton on a regular basis.
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Table of Content
Improves Cardiovascular Health
Very simply, playing badminton is a great form of cardiovascular exercise. It’s good for your heart.
This is because it requires constant movement on the court and that ends up consumes a lot of energy.
The heart rate increases while playing badminton, making your heart work harder to pump oxygen and nutrients to your muscles.
This increased demand on your cardiovascular system helps to improve your heart health and strengthen your cardiovascular system over time.
Playing badminton also helps improve one’s aerobic capacity.
This is a result of its high-intensity movements like running, jumping, and lunging. It makes your body more efficient at using oxygen to fuel your muscles, and that in turn improves endurance and overall cardiovascular health.
There is one other cardiovascular benefit associated with playing badminton.
It also helps lower your blood pressure and reduces your risk of developing heart disease.
Regular physical activity like badminton can help improve cholesterol levels and reduce body inflammation, two important ways to improve heart health.
Not surprisingly, a regular trip to your badminton club can provide a great cardiovascular workout and help improve your overall health and well-being.
Boosts Flexibility and Agility
Badminton requires many quick movements and with practice and time, that can help improve your flexibility and agility. It also reduces the risk of injury.
These movements and quick changes in directions improves your overall agility and coordination.
And because the sport also involves regular stretching and reaching movements, it is great for improving flexibility.
It’s one of the sports which requires players to possess the ability to move fast on court and change one’s direction quickly.
It requires good balance, coordination, and flexibility, all of which can be improved through regular practice.
Badminton can also help improve your hand-eye coordination, an important component of overall agility.
The game involves hitting a small shuttlecock with a racket, which requires precise timing and accuracy.
Playing badminton can help improve your reaction time and overall coordination with time, enabling you to feel more agile and flexible both on and off the court.
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Burns Calories
One of the other great health benefits of playing badminton is it helps burn calories. It’s because of its high-intensity nature and the need for a lot of movement and energy expenditure.
When you play badminton, you are constantly moving around the court, jumping, lunging, and hitting the shuttlecock, all of which require significant energy.
The calories you can burn during a game of badminton depend on many factors. These include your weight, age and the level of intensity obviously.
However, on average, a person weighing 150 pounds can burn around 450-500 calories per hour of playing badminton.
How many calories can you burn while playing badminton? Here’s an in-depth look.
In addition, it can also help increase your metabolism. How does this help the body? It implies your body could continue burning calories even after you’ve finished playing.
This is because any kind of high-intensity exercise like badminton can help increase your resting metabolic rate; i.e. the number of calories your body burns at rest.
Strengthens Muscles
Playing badminton can help strengthen your muscles, particularly in your legs, arms, and core.
As mentioned earlier, players need to run, jump and possess quick movements while playing badminton. All of this requires a significant amount of muscle power and endurance.
The leg muscles are particularly important in badminton, as you need to be able to move quickly around the court and lunge and jump to reach the shuttlecock.
The quadriceps, hamstrings, and calf muscles are all used extensively during a badminton session, which can help tone and strengthen these muscles over time.
In addition, the arm muscles also play a vital role in badminton, as you need to be able to hit the shuttlecock with speed and accuracy. The biceps, triceps, and forearm muscles are all used while playing different shots, such as the overhead smash or the backhand.
Finally, playing badminton can also help strengthen your core muscles. These core muscles are needed for balance and stability. The twisting and turning movements required in badminton can help tone and strengthen your abdominal and lower back muscles, which can help improve your overall posture and reduce the risk of injury.
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Improves Hand-Eye Coordination
Playing badminton can help improve hand-eye coordination because it requires precise timing and accuracy. To hit the shuttlecock with the racket, you need to be able to judge its trajectory and speed, and then position your body and racket in the right place to make contact.
This requires good hand-eye coordination, as you need to be able to see the shuttlecock coming towards you, and then react quickly and accurately to hit it back over the net. Over time, playing badminton can help improve your reaction time, as well as your ability to judge distances and angles.
In addition, playing badminton can also help improve your proprioception, which is your body’s sense of its position in space. It is because the sport involves a lot of rapid changes in direction and movement, which can help improve your spatial awareness and overall coordination.
Relieves Stress
Playing badminton can be an effective way to relieve stress.
Badminton, like any other physical activities, help reduce levels of stress hormones in the body. Some of these stress hormones, like cortisol, can put your body at a lot of risk.
According to MayoClinic.org,
“The long-term activation of the stress response system and the overexposure to cortisol and other stress hormones that follows can disrupt almost all your body’s processes. This puts you at increased risk of many health problems.”
Instead, playing badminton triggers the release of endorphins, which in turn are natural boosters of mood. This helps reduce feelings of stress and anxiety.
You would have also noticed that one of the best ways to overcome stress is to distract your mind doing what you like. Playing badminton acts as a good way of taking your mind off stressful situations and focussing on something fun and challenging.
The game requires concentration and focus, which can help distract you from negative thoughts or worries.
Playing badminton can also be a social activity that provides additional stress relief. Spending time with friends or playing in a team can help you feel more connected and supported, reducing feelings of stress and isolation.
As a result of the advantages mentioned above, playing badminton is a great way to relieve stress and improve mental health. It provides a fun and challenging workout that can help boost your mood, reduce anxiety, and increase feelings of social connection and support.
Improves a Person’s Mood
Playing badminton can improve your mood in several ways.
As we have already mentioned earlier, playing badminton helps the release of endorphins in the body. This naturally helps mood and can help reduce feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression.
These feel-good chemicals can help improve your mood and leave you feeling more energized and positive.
Secondly, playing badminton can provide a sense of accomplishment and mastery, boosting your self-esteem and confidence.
An improvement of your badminton skills and technique can help feel a sense of pride and satisfaction, in turn improving your mood as well.
Playing badminton can also be an excellent social activity, providing additional mood-boosting benefits.
Spending time with friends or playing in a team can help you feel more connected and supported, reducing feelings of loneliness and depression.
Final Words on Health Benefits Associated with Badminton
By now you would have realized there are many health benefits, physical and mental, associated with playing badminton. It’s a fun sport too, so if you enjoy the joy associated with being part of your group and of competition, badminton is a good one to try out.
And remember to cool down properly after playing any sport or doing any kind of exercises, including after playing badminton.
