Playing any kind of physical sport improves your physical and mental health. Playing badminton more often will help you get the most benefits of playing badminton. In this post, you are going to know in detail about the major health benefits of playing badminton.
In this article, I will also cover the weight loss properties of playing badminton.
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 begin
8 Health Benefits of Playing Badminton
1. Playing badminton improves your reflex actions
Badminton can be played as a single or double. It is a racket sport similar to tennis. But here players use a shuttlecock.
If you already played badminton or seen the game, then you know how fast the players need to be; so that they can 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 in the air for a few seconds above your court. You need to make quick moves. Thus playing badminton a couple of times a week automatically improves your body reflex.
2. Strengthen your leg muscles
One of the main benefits of playing badminton is it can help you to build 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 sprinting 2-5 feet at high speed. Some require you to run backwards. Sometimes you have to run and stretch your legs to reach a location. And sometimes you have to jump in order to smash the shuttlecock in your opponent’s court.
Playing badminton a few times a week can help you to strengthen your legs.
Read more: Top 10 benefits of cycling
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. Another benefits of playing badminton is it can promote 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.
Here’s a clip about a badminton match. See the player’s body movement…
Also, if you are looking for a sport to burn more calories, then definitely try playing badminton.
Playing badminton for one hour burns 450 calories or more.
You can also check our post on the benefits of living an active lifestyle and how it can be an efficient way to burn more calories.
5. Reduces stress level
Another benefits 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 bodies. 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. The advantage of this is – the next day you will feel much more energetic during the day.
To have good sleep at night and get the most benefits from playing badminton you need to play badminton for at least 30-45 minutes.
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 of 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
Read more: What is self-image? Benefits of having a positive self-image
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.
Read more: I tried drinking warm lemon water with honey: Proven benefits & more
Badminton and weight loss
The main factor that influences weight loss is calorie intake and calories burned. To get the best weight loss results you have to burn more calories than you eat. It may sound simple but it’s hard to find physical activities that will help you to burn your extra calories.
The good news is even if you play badminton at a regular pace it can burn 300 calories per hour. But when you play badminton more actively like a professional badminton player then you can burn up to 500 calories per hour from playing badminton. The amount of calories burned while playing badminton is huge in comparison to other physical sports.
Thus playing badminton will help you to burn your unused calories. But if you want to get better weight loss results from playing badminton you have to also focus on eating the right foods and avoid eating junk food and foods that are highly packed with calories.
So, eating mindfully and limiting your daily calorie intake while playing badminton can help you to lose weight. If you play badminton for 1-2 hours regularly then you can get good weight loss results.
Conclusion
There are many benefits of playing badminton. From weight loss to building your legs, back and overall improvement in your body fitness. No matter whether you play badminton indoors or outdoors the health benefits of playing badminton remains the same.
To get the most of the benefits of badminton you need to spend at least 30-45 minutes playing this sport. For weight loss, you need to play badminton for an hour or so. If you love playing badminton then along with enjoyment this sport has many things to offer.
FAQs on the benefits of playing badminton
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 follow 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 from 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.
What are the advantages of playing badminton?
The 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 indoors and get its health benefits.
Does playing badminton help 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 muscle 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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