The top health benefits of playing football

Football – the world’s most popular sport. It’s played in over 200 countries by 250 million people both competitively and recreationally.

Updated: Tuesday 17 November 2020

Football – the world’s most popular sport. It’s played in over 200 countries by 250 million people both competitively and recreationally.

One advantage of playing football is that you don’t need to play like Cristiano Ronaldo to realise the benefits of the game. A study by the University of Copenhagen showed that even playing regular 5-a-side football with your friends can still have significant health benefits.

We’ve rounded up 6 great benefits of playing football:

• Increase bone density
  Our bone density decreases as we get older. Bone density is extremely important for our overall health because weak bone density is more likely to break easily. Regular weight bearing exercises such as football is very effective at increasing bone strength because of the variety in movements during the game.
• Improved coordination skills
  Football requires you to switch between varying movements and speeds under a pressurising environment which improves your judgement and concentration on the girls. The game is based upon coordination as you have to constantly anticipate your opponent’s movements.

• Lowers body fat
  Football is a combination of low and high intensity and because of this you generally burn more calories than other workouts because of the mixture of aerobic and anaerobic exercises. Football continuously works the muscular tissues of the thighs, abdomen and chest which increases the agility of the body. This in turn helps your muscle tissues tighten and strengthen over time improving muscle tone.
• Increases cardiovascular health
  In a full game of football, the players can cover up to 7 miles. The constant movement keeps the heart rate up, strengthening the heat, reduces blood pressure and helps to burn extra calories, improving overall cardiovascular function. The improvement in in heart functionality is a key advantage of playing football because it reduces the risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes.
• Muscle strength
  In a game of football, the player’s entire body is engaged and a combination of upper body, lower body and core strength is needed. The combination of running, jumping will improve your upper body muscles whilst your ankles and glutes will strengthen because of the constant kicking and sprinting. Core strength is improved because you will build up because of the multidirectional forces and multi muscle movements.
• Improved cognitive brain function
  We all know that exercise improves our physical fitness, but it can also boost our brain power, especially football. Football is fast paced and requires quick thinking and full concentration on the field. Even if the pace has slowed down, the players are constantly trying to find territorial advantages. Playing football regularly will improve your memory, decision making and attention.