The 2019 Wimbledon Championships commences today and with it brings a dash of tennis fever. Tennis is a fast-paced sport that is a fantastic all-round workout and is also good for emotional wellness. The health benefits of tennis include reducing your risk of heart disease and diabetes, helping maintain a healthy weight, relieving tension and improving your mood.
Read more to find out how tennis can benefit your health:
Tennis provides a full body workout
If you are looking for a good workout that uses your entire body, then dust off your tennis racquets and head down to your nearest tennis courts as tennis can offer numerous health benefits. Tennis involves constant movements such as swinging, jumping, reaching, lunging, crouching and pivoting. Your heart rate will soon be up, you will be sweating, burning calories and getting a good cardio workout in. One hour of tennis can burn about 500 calories! Repeatedly performing forehands and backhands will also increase your core stability and tone your abs.
Reduces stress
If you are feeling tense and stressed, exercise can help to relieve some of the pressure. When you play tennis, endorphins (the feel-good hormones) are released and will give you the sensation of a ‘runner’s high’. You will become very focused and invested in the game, and your worries will fade away whilst you are playing. If you are feeling angry then taking out your frustration on that little green ball can be a healthy way to deal with it.
Tennis is good for emotional wellness
Participating in tennis is a fantastic way to meet new people and be more sociable! Tennis can better your communication and teamwork skills and make you more disciplined as tennis requires focus, patience, time and dedication. It can also provide the perfect opportunity for a family get together and create a little bit of healthy competition.
Boosts heart health
Tennis is a demanding sport that can last anything from one to two hours, therefore it is a good workout that increases your heart rate, and pumps oxygen and nutrients to your muscles more efficiently. Regularly playing tennis will strengthen your heart and reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases such as a heart attack, heart disease and stroke. One of the health benefits of tennis also includes lowering cholesterol levels and blood pressure!
Stimulates the brain
Tennis requires the brain to think and plan ahead as there is a lot of strategic preparation and tactics, which require agility and the coordination of different parts of the body. Making it a good exercise to stimulate the brain and get those creative wheels turning! Tennis has numerous health benefits for the brain, and it can help improve memory, learning, social skills and behaviour.
Read more: Tips for making exercise a priority when you work
