Anyone can play tennis, from the very young who have just mastered walking to the very young-at-heart 90-year-olds with a lifetime of wisdom behind them.
It's no wonder it has been called the sport for a lifetime. Tennis is one of the best sports to play for life due to its many emotional and physical health benefits.
Tennis is obviously a great physical workout, combining strength, endurance, agility, and quickness. In addition to the physical demands, tennis players also exercise their brains too.
Since it's a game of strategy, playing tennis can actually improve brain function and maybe even guard against the onset of Alzheimer's disease.
And if all that is not enough, playing tennis can create a better overall sense of general well-being.
Tennis can help you feel better physically and emotionally and it can even help you live longer! A study by HarvardSchool of Public Health, reported in Membership.usta, found that those who play moderately intense tennis at least three hours per week cut the risk of death, by any cause, by 50 percent!
Want to know even more ways tennis can benefit those who play the sport? Read on for seven unexpected health benefits of tennis.
1) Playing tennis can reduce blood pressure.
2) Playing tennis can reduce your chances of developing diabetes. Or, if diabetes is already present, playing tennis can help improve that condition.
3) Playing tennis might help you lose weight. Or it can at least help players not gain weight. Playing tennis competitively burns more calories than inline skating, cycling, or even aerobics.
4) Playing tennis can help to reduce the chances for having a heart attack.
5) Playing tennis may help to reduce depression. It might also help to improve your intellectual capabilities by continuously generating new connections between nerves in your brain.
6) Playing tennis can reduce your risk of developing osteoporosis by strengthening your bones.
7) Playing tennis can reduce the pain and bodily functions for those who suffer from osteoarthritis.
Tennis can be taken up at any age, and with the great health benefits, it's better to start playing sooner than later. There are emotional, physical and intellectual benefits to tennis, but the most important reason to play is because it is FUN!
Sources:
Membership.usta. Web. 22 October 2014. "7 Ways Tennis Is Benefiting Your Body.
http://membership.usta.com/custserv/custserv.jsp?pageName=7ways
Active.com. Web. "Five benefits of tennis.)
http://www.active.com/tennis/articles/five-benefits-of-tennis
Reviewed October 23, 2014
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith