When we’re unfit, we don’t tend to feel our best. We tire more easily, get out of breath quicker, and aren’t always happy with what we see in the mirror. While we’re firm believers in embracing beauty in all of its forms, we still have to admit that being in shape helps us to feel great.
The problem is this: as much as we feel a little bit guilty admitting it, we don’t love slogging away in the gym. While we know we’re not alone in this, it does pose a rather obvious question – how can you up your exercise without spending hours every week on a treadmill?
The key is to find a form of exercise that you actually enjoy, and lots of ladies are turning to basketball as a solution. A team sport, it comes with numerous benefits, from expanding your social circle through to improving your fitness.
Here are just a few of the reasons why you might want to consider trying it for yourself.
Burning calories
If you’re on the hunt for ways to increase your fitness and perhaps drop a few pounds, then finding a sport that burns calories is your best bet. Basketball definitely ticks this box, with the average player burning around 630 to 750 calories in the space of a single hour.
Building endurance
Of course, exercise should never be viewed solely as a way of slimming down. It’s better to embrace it as a means of improving your overall health and fitness, and basketball is a wonderful way to build endurance. The extra stamina you gain will benefit you in other areas of your life too, making exercise in general feel easier and less like a self-inflicted form of torture!
Improving balance and coordination
In the same vein as helping to build your fitness, basketball can also enhance your overall balance and coordination. This is likely to have a knock-on effect on how easy you find things, as well as improving the way that you hold yourself, allowing you to benefit from a better posture and project a more authentic air of confidence.
Toning
If you’re less bothered about losing weight and more concerned with toning your body and improving your overall fitness, then this is something else that basketball can help you with. Providing a full-body workout, it can act as a major confidence boost every time you look in the mirror and like what you see.
A new area of interest
As well as coming with physical benefits, basketball can be a great mental stimulant too. If you develop a taste for it, you’ll find there’s a whole world outside of the court that you can involve yourself in, from attending games to sports betting. Watching on TV or reading up online, you can delve into the highest echelons, such as the NBA. You can catch news on the Miami Heat or Denver Nuggets, while also picking up advice that’s more general (such as how to place bets) or very specific (the odds and predictions for individual games). The ability to immerse yourself in the action and place your own bets adds an extra level of excitement.
A social sport
Last but not least, basketball can be a great way to forge new friendships. Giving you the opportunity to enjoy a team sport, there is little that can rival the bonds that are made on the court, when your back is against the wall and you’re down to the final minute.
Is basketball something you would consider trying?
