Showing posts with label playing badminton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label playing badminton. Show all posts

Friday, May 23, 2008

Health Benefits of Playing Badminton

playing badminton
Playing Badminton. It is a well-known fact that indulging in aerobic sports activity like badminton gives multiple health benefits and promotes longevity.

In fact it has been found that playing badminton till you get an increase in heart rate or mild breathlessness regularly in middle age lowers the risk of death by about 23% in the subsequent 20 years and improves longevity by at least 2 years. The optimal health benefits are achieved by playing badminton for at least 30 minutes a day after adequate warm up.

The main health benefit is reduction of bad cholesterol and increase in good cholesterol with regular badminton play. In our body, total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoproteins (LDL) and very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) are bad cholesterols and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) is the only good cholesterol.

Playing badminton regularly increases the levels of HDL good cholesterol while decreasing the levels of bad cholesterols. As bad cholesterols decrease the size of blood vessels promoting heart attacks and strokes, reduction in their levels translates into multiple health benefits for the individual.

Playing regular badminton conditions the body so that the basal heart rate drops a few beats per minute and blood pressure is reduced. Both these effects are helpful in hypertensive individuals. It may help them to ward off their hypertension without medicines and even if they are needed, only fewer amounts are required.

Another particular health benefit of playing regular badminton is protection from heart disease, especially heart attacks. Playing badminton conditions and strengthens the heart muscle besides reducing hypertension and keeping blood vessels from clogging as we have seen earlier. Even people with pre-existing heart disease can benefit by playing badminton within their endurance levels under medical supervision and advise.

Regular indulgence in badminton helps overweight people to reduce their weight and attain optimal weight for their height and age. This effect is due to the excess calories burnt during playing badminton which prevents them from accumulating as fat and increasing the individual's weight.

Moreover, the existing fat deposits are also mobilized to produce energy while playing badminton. But for achieving optimal weight loss, it has to be combined with diet modification as well.

Osteoporosis is a troublesome problem especially in the elderly and women after menopause. It occurs because the bones loose their density due to complex interactions between the body hormones, bone forming and bone dissolving cells. Individuals with osteoporosis can easily sustain fractures because of reduced bone strength to withstand stress and injury.

Osteoporosis can be prevented or delayed by regularly playing badminton, as physical activity is one major factor that prevents osteoporosis, irrespective of the age and sex of the individual. Playing badminton promotes the activity of the bone forming cells and help in the assimilation of calcium in the bone matrix, thereby strengthening it.

Additional health benefit of playing regular badminton is reduced incidence of cancers like cancer of the large bowel and cancer of breast.

Finally, playing badminton keeps you feeling well, strong, motivated, enthusiastic and young. It helps to ward off depression, anxiety, stress and increase self-esteem. It also helps in enjoying a better sleep in the night, thereby minimizing the incidence of pre-existing illnesses getting aggravated due to lack of sleep.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

What is the meaning of Badminton?

playing badminton
Often people ask the question, “what is the meaning of life?” Instead, I am sitting here wondering, “what is the meaning of badminton?" or more importantly, what is the meaning of badminton to me.

Late Friday evening is a great time to think deeper than we normally do, there is no stress from having to go to work the next day, the brain is full of energy from all the badminton excitement in the evening. But as the evening quiets down, all neighbors are asleep, it is the best time to ponder about the deeper side of life.

Most of us are pure badminton addicts, we visit the gym 3+ times a week to satisfy our addiction. Even when we are off, the true addicts will be thinking about badminton moves and simulating games in their head during sleepy hours and at work. Face it, there are many of us who live and breathe badminton.

While we are engrossed in such a great activity, I think we need to routinely ask ourselves, what really do badminton mean to us. Is it just a pass time? an exercise? a social gathering? A way to meet girls? Or just an addiction that probably requires therapy to shake off?

So here is the list I came up with for me:

Exercise – sure, I don’t think anybody can deny that badminton is great exercise. I was telling on of my more senior colleague about a recent illness that I have. What he told me really made sense, he says there is a certain transition period in life where problems here and there will start to creep up. Like a 2-3 years old car, problem will start to come up. Staying fit and doing exercise will certain help staying healthy.

Social – I get to meet a lot of people and made a lot of friends from playing badminton. It just happens that almost everybody who plays badminton are nice friendly people. Furthermore, it is a great way to spend time together with my family.

Brain exercise – badminton isn’t just a exercise of the muscles, but also the brain. A game of badminton is like a game of chess, I have to make the right moves to come out ahead of my opponents. Having to sit in a cubicle all day, doing a different brain exercise is quite refreshing.

Passion – live and breathe badminton, passion is what fuels me in badminton. Passion is what made me created BadmintonCentral.com.

Addiction – like passion, I am also addicted. This is not a recent phenomenon. If you had known me when I was 12, and then you see me again now, you will not be surprised that I am still playing badminton. The addiction has been there since I first picked up my racket.

Even so, after listed the above, I find that neither individually nor as a whole do they really define the essence or the meaning of badminton to me. I was left more puzzled than I was in the beginning.

Then I realize, perhaps there really isn’t any need to know the meaning of badminton, as it is so ingrained inside, it is akin to a personality. Imagine the following :

Mom : “why are you so stubborn?”
Son : “that’s the way I am!”

So I still cannot answer the original question, what is the meaning of badminton to me. But from trying to answer the question, I realized the following:

“Badminton, that’s the way I am.”

Written by kwun
Saturday, 23 October 2004