What would drive people to come together in the stands and in front of screens to watch a match between two teams that have no connection except for competing for a title that is more semantic than materialistic?
What causes many people to spend hours a week doing a sport?
What benefits do they get from exercising and how has it evolved this way?

Sport throughout the ages

The reliable history of sports goes back at least 3,000 years. In its early days, sports often included preparing for war or hunting, which explains why many early games involved spears, pegs, stones, and one-to-one rivalries.

To celebrate all that sport offers and the different human values it represents -the most important of which is the team spirit; an important characteristic that has contributed to the development of human societies, in addition to sportsmanship, honest competition, and the desire for personal development -, the United Nations chose April 6th of every year to celebrate sport and its importance and encourage everyone to benefit from it.

Given its impact on people’s opinions to make a positive change in society, it is undeniable that sport has a great influence on its fans. In addition to the impact of sport on society in general, it holds a positive sway that everyone who practices it on an ongoing basis can feel.

The benefits of sport

1. Physically:

– Reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases.
– Weight management.
– Lower blood cholesterol.
– Control blood sugar and insulin levels.
– Lower risk for several types of cancer.
– Help to quit smoking and get rid of addiction.

2. Mentally and psychologically:

Many studies have shown that daily exercising for 20 to 30 minutes reduces stress and depression, as exercise helps limit negative thoughts and daily worries, and improves sleep quality.

These benefits are due to the decreased levels of stress hormones such as cortisol, and the release of the “happy hormones” such as endorphins.

In addition to the above-mentioned benefits, there are some extra benefits to exercising that manifest in each age group:

• For children through development stages, sport provides the best growth of bones, muscles, ligaments, and tendons, and reduces the risk of obesity.
  It also has an obvious psychological and social impact on children, helping them build social and leadership skills and boost their self-confidence.
• In adolescence, early, and even late adulthood, the human body needs sports to maintain the health of its organs and muscles.

Given all of the above, it is not surprising that sport is considered a human right rather than a luxury.

The downsides of sport

Foremost among them are injuries caused by some extreme sports, and the stress of trying to reach the ideal body which may lead to depression and appetite disorders. Also, the high prices of sportswear, equipment, and club subscriptions, as an attempt to achieve the ideal image imposed by the media, have turned sport from a right and natural activity into some kind of trade.

This common image of the sports body is unstable and changing from time to time; with the aim of obtaining new tools and resources that benefit the trader, and requires a lot of material resources and psychological and physical effort to reach, resulting in sport being associated with a sense of disappointment and frustration, rather than a source of happiness and confidence.

But with all these developments that have changed the shape of life, a lot of solutions have emerged that help us reconnect with our human nature, unfolded by some simple ways to practice sport, thereby increasing the ways to exercise freely and available for all to maintain their physical and mental health.

One of these solutions is using free online sports applications, such as the FitOn app, which contains a very large number of recorded exercises of trusted trainers in different fields, including:

– Cardio
– Strength training
– Yoga
– Meditations
Available at different times and different grades to suit all levels. With a weekly goal set to motivate members to follow the exercises. Achievements can also be shared with friends for encouragement.

Let us not forget that the main purpose of sport is to increase fitness, rather than achieve the commercial body image, as each body has a different nature.

Trainers always focus on accepting the body in all forms, and the importance of sport regardless of the external appearance, which is a personal matter for each individual.

And on this day, there is nothing better than to take up a sport, in celebration of ourselves and our desire to maintain our physical and mental health without any social pressure.

So what kind of sport do you prefer? And how many hours do you assign to sports on a daily and weekly basis?

References:

1. Webmd
2. Med-Line Plus
3. National Day Calendar
4. Thoughco
5. Better Health