You may be surprised to know that one hour of playing badminton can burn 450 calories or more.
It’s a fun game to play and the game is fast-paced which keeps the players very active on the court. So, good for fitness lovers.
Let’s see all the health benefits it offers…
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8 Health benefits of playing badminton
1. Playing badminton improves your reflex actions
Badminton can be played as single or double. It is a racket sport similar to tennis. But here players use shuttlecock.
If you already played badminton or seen the game then you know how fast players need to respond to send the shuttlecock to the opponent’s court.
The position of the next shot is nearly unpredictable. So, players remain active all the time.
As the shuttlecock floats on the air for a few seconds above your court. You need to make quick moves. Thus playing badminton a couple of times in a week automatically improves your body reflex.
2. Strengthen your leg muscles
In badminton, payers use their hands to hit the shuttlecock with a racket. But footwork is also very important in this game.
Some foot action requires to sprint 1-2 feet in high speed. Some require you to run backwards. And sometimes you have to run and stretch your legs to reach a location. Playing badminton a few times a week can help you build leg muscles.
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3. Playing badminton builds arm and upper back muscles
During a workout, many people pay less attention to the upper back and wrist flexor muscles.
When you swing a racket while playing badminton it uses your wrist, wrist flexor muscles and upper back muscles. Especially when a player performs upper hand shots it engages the upper back muscles.
If you are looking to build your wrist flexor muscles and upper back then you should play badminton more often.
4. Playing badminton helps in weight loss
We can easily compare badminton with high-intensity cardio.
As I already mentioned about the speed at which badminton is played. You can guess how much movement a player makes in a game.
Like I mentioned earlier if you play badminton for one hour you can burn 450 calories or more.
Here’s a clip about a badminton match. See the player’s body movement…
Pro tip: Playing badminton and following a diet or intermittent fasting will help you lose more body fat.
5. Reduces stress level
Another benefit of playing badminton is it can reduce your stress level.
When we exercise or play a physical sport our body releases endorphins. And it triggers a positive feeling in our body. Also, endorphins have other benefits as well. It helps fight anxiety and depression.
To read more about the effects of endorphins as pain and stress fighter check this article on medicinenet.com
6. Better sleep at night
People who do less physical activities may find it difficult to have good sleep at night. But when you live an active lifestyle and do various physical activities during the day…at night your body wants some rest.
So, playing badminton can help you fall asleep quicker at night. And the quality of your sleep also improves. Advantage of this is – the next day you will feel much more energetic during the day.
7. Playing badminton also promotes better mental health
Badminton can be played indoors or outdoors. No matter where you are playing there will be at least two or more people on the court. So it helps you to have new social interactions. And you get to meet new people who also have the same interests as you.
Also becoming a member in a badminton club or joining a badminton league help you to be part of a new community. This is a good way to improve physical fitness and make new friends.
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8. Good for overall health
When you play badminton it engages your whole body. This has many benefits and helps you to avoid many diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity etc.
Playing badminton also boosts your metabolism rate. Metabolism is a natural process in our body that helps to burn unused calories. Thus it promotes better weight management.
Some other health benefits of playing badminton are:-
- It helps you to tone your muscles which adds a natural glow to your skin.
- Promotes better heart function
- Better bone health
- Improves lung functions.
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Can playing badminton help me lose weight?
Yes, playing badminton can help you lose weight. Playing badminton for one hour can burn 450 calories or more. It’s quite high in comparison to other physical exercises. If weight loss is your main goal, badminton can be a good option.
So if you burn 400-500 calories a day through badminton and also following healthy eating habits then you will lose fat for sure.
The thing is badminton can help you burn 400-500 calories. And other work you do during the day also burns 2000-3100 calories (can vary person to person).
A normal healthy diet contains 1700-2100 calories. Thus if you maintain your self-discipline and follow this for one or two months you will lose weight.
Although, if you play badminton but eat fast food, soft drinks and other foods that increase your fat percentage. Then you will lose less body weight.
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What are the advantages of badminton?
Advantages of playing badminton are it’s a fun game to play and you will enjoy playing it. Also, it comes with some amazing health benefits. As it is a fast-paced sport it burns a lot of calories and helps you increase your body flexibility.
Another advantage of badminton is it can be played indoors or outdoors. So you can play badminton any day. Even if it’s bad weather outside you can play badminton indoor and get its health benefits.
Does playing badminton helps in building muscles?
Playing badminton regularly can help you to build muscles. Here are the major muscles a badminton player uses during a game: wrist flexor muscles, upper back muscles, side back muscles (serratus anterior), leg and thigh muscles.
How much muscles you will build by playing badminton also depends. It depends on how frequently/regularly you are playing and your play style.
If you play actively then you can see some results within a few weeks. But for serious changes, you have to play badminton for some months 4-5 times a week.
Can playing badminton give me a ‘V’ shaped body?
Playing badminton regularly can help you to burn your side fat and give you a ‘V’ shaped body. But this can take a long time. Also, you need to maintain good eating habits for this. You can speed up the process by doing some other exercises that engage those muscles along with it.
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