Discover the main benefits and harms of football

Playing football is considered a complete exercise, because the intense and varied movements through runs, kicks and spins, help to keep the body always healthy, being a great option also for women, because it helps in the prevention of osteoporosis and PMS symptoms.

This sport is an excellent way to lose weight and maintain good shape, it also fights stress and anxiety, in addition to improving social life, avoiding cases of childhood obesity and depression. To achieve all the benefits, it is recommended to practice football for at least 30 minutes, two to three times a week.

1. Helps you lose weight

During the football game the whole body needs to work together, and this leads to a high expenditure of calories. The need for constant movement causes a great fat burning, being possible to lose, on average, 250 calories every 30 minutes.

In addition, due to the intense work of the body, soccer speeds up the metabolism, which makes the burning of calories last for many hours after the game.

2. Increases muscle mass

During the practice of soccer, several groups of muscles of both the upper limbs, lower limbs and abdomen are used constantly, which causes the growth and multiplication of their muscle fibers. In this way, over time, practitioners develop bigger and stronger muscles.

The association of sport with weight training, two or three times a week, makes strengthening and gaining muscle mass even more efficient.

Check out the video below for more tips to increase muscle mass:

3. Helps lower high blood pressure

Playing football regularly is an excellent method to help control blood pressure, because, like other sports that require movement of the body, it improves the functioning of the heart, circulation and blood flow. In this way, this sport prevents diseases caused by high blood pressure, such as stroke or heart attack.

In addition to the cardiovascular system, the practice of football stimulates various cup systems and activates their functioning, improving digestion, immunity, breathing, and preventing serious diseases such as diabetes, high cholesterol and even cancer.

Learn about other strategies to lower high blood pressure naturally.

4. Strengthens bones

The amount of calcium in the bones of those who play football is greater than those who do not do physical activities. The great stimulus to the body decreases the loss of calcium from the bones, and they are more strengthened.

In this way, this sport helps to prevent osteoporosis, a disease that is very common in the elderly and women after menopause.

5. Reduces the risk of falls and fractures

Dribbling and steps make people who practice football have better flexibility, agility and reflexes. In this way, balance improves significantly, resulting in a lower risk of falls and bone fractures.

6. Decreases the chances of stress and depression

In addition to the release of hormones that bring well-being, such as endorphins and serotonin, playing football brings benefits by stimulating team spirit and group work, since there must always be contact with other people and friends. For these reasons, in addition to being easy and fun, the practice of this sport reduces the feeling of stress or sadness, being an excellent ally for the prevention and treatment of anxiety and depression.

For these reasons, for women, the practice of soccer is a great remedy against PMS symptoms.

7. Prevents the onset of Alzheimer's

The practice of football makes people react faster, and develop brain functions such as concentration, attention and reasoning. In this way, the brain becomes more active and avoids the chances of developing brain diseases and dementias, such as Alzheimer's.

Understand the risks of playing football

Before starting to play football, it is important to have a medical evaluation, especially of cardiac function to check for problems such as cardiac arrhythmias that, when not identified, can be life-threatening.

In addition, to practice football, some precautions are necessary to avoid harm, such as:

1. Muscle and bone injuries: This can happen in cases of sudden movements without adequate previous stretching; Traumas: As it is a sport with a lot of physical contact with other people, there must be great care with injuries caused by impact with other people or objects, which can be bruises, fractures or even hemorrhages; Joint wear: Too much practice and without guidance from a professional can cause the body to be excessively demanded, and the cartilage that forms the joints to wear out.

It can be seen that the benefits far outweigh the harms of soccer practice, but it is advisable to stretch before or after training and, preferably, to be accompanied by a professional, make playing soccer an excellent medicine for health and well-being.