We all know that sport is good for us – whether it’s the serious kind of sport with an atmosphere obsessed with winning or just going out for a little bit of fun with the opportunity to stay active too. And while it cannot be doubted that sport is good for us, there might actually be some benefits that you might not expect in certain sports that you may consider to be more of a hobby than a way to stay fit. So here is our list of six sports that have unusual benefits that you might not expect.
Social dancing
The enormous popularity of Strictly Come Dancing and other fad shows based around the concept of twirling around rhythmically to music has made social dancing one of the favoured recreational sports of the moment. It’s easy to see how dancing could contribute to improvements in cardiovascular health, and on a lesser scale, stress relief, but social dancing appears to have a number of other benefits that you might not expect. One is that could help reduce the risk of dementia. A recent study showed that dancing is one of the best things you can do to ensure long-lasting healthy brain function.
Bowling
Everyone has been ten-pin bowling, and it’s not much of a stretch to see that hurling around a heavy ball is excellent for improving your upper body strength. But as it turns out, bowling actually does much more for you in terms of an all-round healthy activity. Over the course of three games, an average bowler will walk more than half a mile and all that while carrying a heavy weight. Now it’s easier to see why it could be so good for you!
Walking
Walking might be a bit of a boring sport – must of us do at least a bit of it every day and while it’s clearly not the most strenuous exercise, the benefits of regular walking are well publicised. You expand your lung capacity and cardiovascular strength as well as strengthening and toning muscles. However, walking has a number of other benefits that you might not expect – it appears to reduce your risk of dementia and your risk of suffering a stroke. It also makes you more likely to survive breast cancer.
Fencing
Fencing has a reputation as the ‘posh man’s’ sport and certainly as far as swordplay goes, it’s as tame as it could possibly be. Nevertheless it attracts a strong following and this appears to be very good for everyone who does it. Aside from being a good way to stay active, the quick decisions required in fencing help keep the mind healthy and fight against degenerative diseases of the brain. So it’s worth giving fencing a try.
Golf
Teeing off on the golf course is extremely popular as a way to pass the time and indeed to stay in shape. There’s no doubt that it offers plenty of exercise, from all the walking while carrying a heavy bag of clubs while the swinging of a club also helps build muscle.
Volleyball
Volleyball is a fairly obvious sport in the sense that it is quite active and involves a high degree of physical exercise. Nevertheless, it’s certainly more of a recreational activity that anyone can enjoy. It is known to improve flexibility, reflexes and hand-eye co-ordination as you are always having to think about where you in relation to the ball and find a way to knock it back over the net. It certainly has a number of benefits that are very good.