What can give us health benefits besides exercise? A sport is commonly defined as an organized, competitive, and skillful physical activity requiring commitment and fair play. Playing a sport is an art. An art where you hone both physical and mental skills. No art can ever be a waste of time. Thus, I do not agree that sports is a waste of time.
Sports gives us health benefits. Research by Harvard School of Public Health shows that physical exercise, supplemented with healthy eating, is the most effective and healthy way to remain fit. It not only helps us control our weight but also reduces risk for several diseases and conditions and improves our overall quality of life. Daily physical activity can help prevent heart disease and stroke by strengthening our heart muscle, lowering our chances of blood pressure, improving our blood flow and our heart’s working capacity. People who are involved with sports are generally less inclined to get diabetes as they have regular physical activities which reduce body fat, thus preventing and controlling type 2 diabetes. Regular activity also increases our muscle strength, endurance, flexibility and posture which is helpful is preventing back-pain.
When we engage in sports, we have company which makes exercising fun, as we can chat with our friends and relax together after we are done working out. Exercising alone would be more mundane and boring. Furthermore, we may lose interest quickly. However, in sports, there are cases where athletes sustain minor injuries or in worse cases, serious injuries. High school athletes account for an estimated 2 million injuries, 500,000 doctor visits and 30,000 hospitalizations each year.
Overexertion which then leads to an injury is responsible for nearly half of all sports injuries to middle and high school students, and is normally fatal. Minor injuries can be healed quickly but serious injuries are a different story. As long as we know our own limits and exercise self-control by not pushing ourselves overboard, the cases of serious injuries will definitely be in decline. Serious injuries are sustained because people who do not know how to exercise self-control push themselves over their limits profusely. No matter the sport, self-control will ensure that we will not sustain any serious injuries.
Initially, when we start playing a sport, we cannot help but have fun and just to enjoy the spirit of the sport itself. Our competitive spirit will grow as we face off against other athletes because no one likes to lose. We train hard for long duration to get better in order to beat our competition. No matter how much effort we put in, we always will feel a sense of accomplishment when we succeed in beating the competition. This will train the person to be someone who can take feedback positively, endure hardships and someone who can persevere on despite obstacles. Once we are at the top, and after experiencing the feeling of being the best, we will find ways to maintain our position.
This is where a few athletes will use underhanded means such as using drugs to boost their physical abilities. One such famous example is Lance Armstrong. Lance Armstrong had won the Tour de France seven times consecutively between 1999 and 2005. However, in 2005, he was investigated by the United States Anti-Doping Agency and was eventually found guilty of drug abuse, where he was then stripped of his seven titles. In sports, we have to ensure that we do not use underhanded means to get an edge over other people who train hard.
We have to play fair and have integrity, but there will always be a few black sheep that will do whatever it takes to be the best. Fortunately, in the recent years, there are additional measures to prevent cheaters. Before any major national competitions, there are improved security measures to detect the cheaters, where if found guilty, they will be severely dealt with. This would prevent the majority of athletes to resort to foul play and ensure that everyone will partake in the sport fairly.
In conclusion, a sport will give us health benefits and improve our attitude and character. Therefore, doing sports will have positive on impacts on us which is why sports is not a waste of time. Imagine a world with more and more people taking up sports, how many more people would be fitter, and be able to persevere, face whatever obstacles life throws at them and be resilient?