Shape Up with Sports!

You have likely heard the benefits of keeping fit many times: Regular exercise helps build strength, endurance, lung capacity, and good posture. It keeps your metabolism high, which allows you to control your weight. It also prevents future health problems such as degenerative heart disease. Physiological benefits include reducing stress and improving self-confidence.

One way people attempt to benefit from exercise is by “working out.” You have probably done the same. Perhaps you purchased a membership at a gym, decided to run a mile several times a week, or tried following an online weight-lifting video. As you continued, however, you may have found your motivation waning and drive sputtering until perhaps you lost interest in it altogether.

While it is important to maintain an exercise routine, for many, these kinds of workouts are simply not fun! This is the reason they fail to continue—they lack passion for what they are doing.

The key to continually staying fit is to not only find activities you enjoy, but those that also help you stay in shape. One of the best ways to spice up your exercise routine is to play sports.

Physical and Mental Benefits

Unlike routine workouts and exercises such as running or lifting weights, sports are more mentally engaging and non-repetitive—yet just as packed with physical benefits. They force you to focus on a game instead of the work you are doing while playing it.

There are also positive character traits you can build by playing them that you would not necessarily develop from traditional workouts.

For example, since most sports are played with others, participating in them teaches you to be competitive, yet accept losing with integrity. It also forces you to control your emotions and build resilience when bouncing back from defeat. Even when things do not go well, you learn to stay positive.

In addition, when playing on a team, even if it is not an organized league, you learn to work better with others. Each sport involves a great deal of passing, catching, dribbling, tossing, and moving quickly—with someone else usually involved in each motion. In some instances, you may have to be patient with those who may not be as skilled. And by submitting to rules, taking direction from coaches, captains, referees and even other team members, you learn to respect authority.

Yet just as a wide variety of foods are needed for a balanced diet, it is important to engage in numerous sports to reap their full benefits. Different games are designed to develop specific strengths. By being well-rounded in this way, you can become a more effective, intelligent and healthy individual.

The following is a sampling of some of the physical activities you can play, either by yourself or with others. Nothing is out of reach! With a little bit of resourcefulness and determination, you and your peers can acquire the equipment and find the space needed to play any one of these.

Basketball

For this game, all that is required is a basketball and a hoop. For those who live in the United States, most neighborhoods or schools have courts and many homes have hoops so it is generally easy to find both.

Dribbling, doing layups, passing to teammates, and trying jump shots from various angles all help to develop hand-eye coordination. Playing also teaches you to catch and control the ball when it rebounds off the backboard or rim.

Whether participating on a team or one-on-one, the constant running and stopping provides a built-in cardio workout. The jumping, twisting, twirling and bending your knees also strengthens your lower-body joints.

It will likely take many shots before you can shoot the ball through the small hoop, but strive to advance your skills in this area. After learning to do a layup in basketball, for instance, move farther from the hoop and try a shot from the foul line. From there, move to a mid-range jump shot before eventually trying to make shots from the three-point line.

Not sure what a layup, the foul line, mid-range jump shot, or three-point line even are? Use the opportunity to expand your mental capacity for the game by referring to a dictionary or researching the terms on the internet.

With each shot, see if you can “swish” the ball by getting it through the net without touching the backboard or rim. Some may even be able to practice jumping high enough to dunk a ball. These all can become goals to motivate you to keep moving forward.

Just as it takes many shots to get a ball through a small hoop, basketball exemplifies the principle that it takes multiple shots to achieve a goal in life. This is where some of its mental benefits come in.

In addition, the sport requires you to concentrate and its fast pace helps players think on their feet, which often helps translates to being able to act more quickly when making everyday life decisions.

Soccer

Similar to basketball, soccer involves constant movement, with all of the same physical benefits being applicable, such as cardiovascular and lower-body joint health.

Yet there is one big difference: You mostly use your feet to make contact with the ball. As such, the sport enhances your foot-eye coordination and ability to maintain your balance while performing complex footwork.

Soccer also teaches you to “think on your feet” since you must continually plan your next play as you are moving. Frequent shifts between walking, running and sprinting reflect the natural change of pace in life—which is essential to helping you learn to be flexible in various situations as well.

Playing soccer is most effective when done with others, but you can practice dribbling and kicking by yourself. You just need a soccer ball, open space, and a goal net. If you do not have access to a net, create a makeshift goal by putting down two items to mark where a goal should be.

Tennis

Tennis, as well as badminton and racquetball, is an effective joint-strengthening exercise due to the frequent stop-and-go movement on the court.

According to the National Institutes of Health, tennis helps develop bone mass. It is especially important to be involved in joint- and bone-strengthening exercises before age 30, at which point bone mass begins to decline.

Also, tennis helps develop flexibility in the joints, particularly the hips and shoulders, given the constant need to make sudden changes in movement to reach the ball. The rotating action of serves and strokes helps strengthen your core muscles (abdominals, oblique muscles, and lower back muscles) as well.

According to the Handbook of Sports Medicine and Science, Tennis, an entire match involves 300 to 500 bursts of energy, which means that in one set you run the equivalent of three to five miles. This provides an effective anaerobic workout, which requires quick bursts of muscle action while at a resting heart rate.

On the mental side, playing tennis helps develop critical thinking since you must anticipate your opponent’s next moves and plan your own.

Table Tennis (Ping Pong)

Table tennis offers benefits like those of tennis except with much less intensity and movement. While playing, you must move around and use repetitive arm motions, especially in your shoulder rotator cuffs, elbows and wrists. These types of arm motions involve low-intensity cardio—the kind that helps burn the most fat tissue over time.

As a game played with another player, table tennis teaches you to quickly react to someone else’s actions. As you become better, you can anticipate the moves another player will make and try to think one step ahead of them—all within a second.

Developing judgment is a common theme with learning and playing sports. The ability to quickly judge a situation and react appropriately is a vital skill in all areas of life—driving a car, conversing with a friend, or even in the chance scenario you need to save yourself or someone else from danger.

Volleyball

Another net sport, volleyball requires keeping up with a fast-moving, round object. Yet, unlike tennis, you have direct contact with the ball through your arms. This further helps you develop fine motor control skills and learn to use different parts of your body such as your fingertips and the backs of your wrists.

Volleyball is a very team-oriented sport. Whether playing beach volleyball, which involves two to three players and is generally played outdoors, or participating on a team of six in a traditional game, you must step up to fulfill your role.

Coordinating who will bump, set and spike the ball over the net before each play is essential and can mean the difference between your team winning or losing. No one player can easily cover the court by himself, so it is necessary to decide ahead of time who will do what. You then have to trust that the player will follow through on what he or she said he would do.

It can be easy to assume someone else will “take care of it” if you are on a larger team. Yet if you do too little—such as bumping the ball but failing to offer it to another teammate who can then set it for someone to spike—your team will fail to gain points.

On the other hand, trying to be “the hero” and play all the positions at once could cause you to crash into teammates. This means your team would not be operating at full efficiency, and is a surefire way to lose. This could disappoint other team members and prevent them from having the opportunity to play.

Becoming better at deciding whether you should assert yourself (step in and take charge) or defer (back down so someone else can) strengthens your ability to interact with others around you outside of the game.

Softball/Baseball

Baseball and softball both require a wide range of skills—from balancing force and precision while attempting to hit a ball with a bat to being able to sprint bases, catch a small ball, and throw.

Swinging a bat and throwing a ball are a workout for your arm muscles. You also receive a lower body workout when you run to retrieve a ball, jump to catch a pop-fly, or squat to retrieve a grounder.

A baseball quickly moves long distances. The duration of time between throwing and catching is a matter of seconds, and it requires a great deal of hand-eye coordination.

The game generally occurs in short spurts, which means you must react quickly. If you are an outfielder, for example, you may wait through several pitches and plays before the ball comes toward you.

But when it does, be ready! The rest of your team will rely on you to catch the ball and throw it to other teammates to stop an opposing player from running around the bases. Because of this, you have to be aware at all times, regardless of how long it takes! This teaches patience since you must focus, be prepared, and be aware—even when there is no action.

In addition, once you retrieve the ball, you have to determine—within a split-second—where the ball goes next and then get it there. This series of minutely timed strategic decisions helps keep the mind sharp.

Baseball and softball generally require a large number of players. But even if you are not able to assemble a group of friends, just playing “catch” with a sibling, partner or even yourself allows you to reap some of the benefits.

Challenge yourself and your partner by varying the throws. Launch or “pop” the ball high, throw grounders, and practice throwing while running. Repeated throwing helps strengthen your upper body and core muscles as well as improves your hand-eye coordination.

Dance

Though technically not a sport, dancing is a great way to stay fit without getting bored. And unlike all other activities on this list, you do not need any equipment other than a few songs. You simply move your body to music.

A good place to start is to watch instructional videos of line dances performed at Ambassador Youth Camp and the Church’s dinner dances. You can also practice basic ballroom steps such as the waltz and swing.

Physical benefits of dancing include improved coordination of your feet while listening to sound—as you must make movements based on the beat of the music—learning to maintain good posture while standing and moving, and better cardiovascular health.

Dancing also has tremendous mental benefits. Harvard Medical School reported on its website that “synchronizing music and movement…constitutes a ‘pleasure double play.’ Music stimulates the brain’s reward centers, while dance activates its sensory and motor circuits.”

It further stated that “much of the research on the benefits of the physical activity associated with dance links with those gained from physical exercise, benefits that range from memory improvement to strengthened neuronal connections.”

“Other studies show that dance helps reduce stress, increases levels of the feel-good hormone serotonin, and helps develop new neural connections, especially in regions involved in executive function, long-term memory, and spatial recognition.”

Bigger Picture

There are other sports not listed here you can be involved in. As a general guideline, avoid impact sports such as tackle football and rugby. Low-impact versions such as flag football are good options.

Regardless of which sports you choose to play, there is one particular skill you as a teenager in God’s Church can take away from anything you play that will help you the most.

That quality is enthusiasm, zeal or passion.

Those who have attended Ambassador Youth Camp have heard the verse, “Whatsoever your hand finds to do, do it with your might…” (Ecc. 9:10).

The Hebrew word translated “with your might” means “be firm, vigor.” The instruction to use might or vigor in all that you do is another way of saying that you should be zealous. This instruction can and should be applied to sports.

Do not settle for just “being there”—play all sports with vigor. Give them everything you have! This is the time to push yourself, get animated, and become excited. Really “go for the ball”!

Watch professional players to adopt proper form and employ appropriate techniques. Also notice how much energy they put into their performances. It takes a lot of work to play a sport, yet they continue to return to participating in them day after day after day!

As you continue to do so, whether a beginner or a well-practiced player, you will develop a mindset of passion, which is crucial to becoming better at anything you do—whether household chores, contributing in class, completing schoolwork, learning another language, writing a paper, or conversing with friends.

Why? King Solomon—the same man who thousands of years ago wrote the verse we read—also wrote: “The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul…” (Prov. 13:19).

Having a passion to accomplish—and then actually accomplishing something—is what adds zest to your life. It means the difference between moving sluggishly or purposefully through your day.

Instead of hitting the snooze button on your alarm clock a few times before slowly rising out of bed, playing sports will help you to more immediately wake up and vigorously prepare yourself. Throughout the rest of the day, you will feel more motivated to walk with a pep in your step instead of shuffling aimlessly to wherever you are going. Your mind will be focused on accomplishing your goals—and the sweetness that comes with it!

Play a wide variety of sports, and give them your all. Not only will they help you get the cardio, muscular and skeletal workout your body needs, you will develop traits that will help you become a more motivated person—all without having to endure the drag of routine exercise!