We love badminton here at fitness drum.
Whether it’s in singles or doubles, badminton is a fun and exciting sport to pick up if you’re looking for an activity that boosts your physical, mental and social wellbeing.
It’s a sport becoming increasing popular with the over 50’s and many of our community rely on their weekly badminton sessions to help reach their fitness goals.
For anyone who isn’t current playing badminton and who may be asking “but what are the health and fitness benefits of badminton?” – we’ve detailed everything you need to know in this concise guide to the benefits of badminton.
Discover 8 benefits of badminton below.
Badminton for Fitness
Muscle Toning and Good Physique
Badminton not just helps you lose the fat, it does so from all the right places. All the quick movements, jumps, smashes and crunching while picking up a drop shot, help you in toning your muscles. Playing badminton builds and tones the quads, glutes, calves and hamstrings. In addition, your core muscles, arm and back muscles get a workout as well. Thus, if you want to lose the flab around waist or thighs, a game of badminton works much better than just running. In a way, it acts as a natural circuit training regime.
Strengthening the Bones and Joints
As we age, mobility becomes limited, but staying active can help prevent these problems. Keeping mobile lubricates your joints, preventing arthritis and similar conditions from developing.
Osteoporosis is a troublesome problem especially in the elderly and women after menopause. It occurs because the bones lose 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 playing badminton, as physical activity is one major factor that prevents osteoporosis, irrespective of your age and sex. Playing badminton promotes the activity of the bone forming cells and help in the assimilation of calcium in the bone matrix, thereby strengthening it.
Improves Reflexes and Concentration
You won’t appreciate how fast a game of badminton is unless you step on the court. The ‘reaction time’ in badminton is one of the fastest among all racket sports. The shuttle moves at breakneck speeds and the player is expected to cover the court at all times. This requires sharp reflexes and a pin-point focus and concentration for extended periods.
Reduced Blood Pressure and Risk of Heart Disease
Basal heart is rate is the heart beats per minute while at being complete rest. A low resting heart rate is an indicator of good fitness. Playing badminton will help you reduce the basal heart rate by a few beats per minute. This reduces blood pressure too. It also strengthens the heart muscle, keeps the blood vessels from clogging and preventing further heart complications.
Keeping Cholesterol Levels in Check
In our bodies, the total cholesterol, low-density-cholesterol (LDL) cholesterol and triglycerides are bad cholesterols and the high-density-lipoprotein (HDL) is the only good cholesterol.
Playing a high-intensity sport like badminton reduces the level of bad cholesterol and increases the good cholesterol levels.
Mobility and Movement
Badminton requires quick movement and reaction times. It’s sport that is fundamentally made up of lots of tiny, subtle movements. The slightest of wrist movements, an overarching scoop, or a quick side shuffle, every point involves all these delicate movements.
This helps burn lots of calories and empower better movement, without having a big impact on joints on muscles.
Badminton for Weight Loss
Badminton as a sport is highly exhausting – making use of all major muscles in the body. A proper game of badminton (on a professional court) can help you burn around 600 calories in an hour. Also, this calorie burning lasts hours after the game because of increased metabolism rate. If you play it twice a week, you can easily lose 4-5 kilos in a month.
Mental Benefits of Badminton
Given the lives we lead, stress and anxiety are major health issues these days. Badminton not only improves physical fitness, it can boost your mental health as well. Playing badminton, just like any physical activity, releases endorphins – our “happy” brain chemicals. The area where it beats regular exercise is the adrenaline rush a competitive game of sports provides; thus, releasing even more endorphins. No wonder, we feel so satisfied and happy after winning. With this benefit also comes improved sleep.
Badminton can also be played outside, helping you get your dose of fresh air. Playing in the park or on a village green can offer further mental benefits due to the associated benefits that the outdoors offers.
The social interactions of a game will result in positive feelings after a session on the court. Joining a league can also help you become part of a community.
The mental benefits of sport in general is something we wholeheartedly believe in and think is a core element of overall wellbeing. For anyone looking for a boost in mood, playing a bit of sport, whether that’s badminton or something else, is proven to be highly effective.
Getting Started with Badminton
There is no doubt that badminton is an excellent choice of activity for any age group, but the benefits and opportunities it affords the over fifties are very compelling. Badminton is a sport for all seasons that is excellent for all round health and keeping your body strong and lithe. It is also a very sociable sport with many clubs around the country offering a programme of social events on top of the badminton.
For the serious sportsman there are many elite badminton clubs and leagues that you can become involved in and even at an advanced age the experienced player can give their younger opponent the run around.
Whatever age you are at or level of fitness you have, badminton is a wonderful game to keep you highly active and feeling young.