Why athletics is good for you

Watching your hard work pay off and achieving your goals develops self-confidence. Achieving a sport or fitness goal encourages you to achieve other goals you set. This is a rewarding and exciting learning process. Exercising is a natural way to loosen up and let go of stress. You can also make new friends who can be there for you as a support system. When you feel under pressure or stressed, call up a teammate, head to the gym to talk and play it out.

All rights reserved. DMCA and other copyright information. For website information, contact the Office of Communications. View All Doctors. View All Locations. View All Pages No Results. Your heart is a muscle and needs frequent exercise to help it keep fit and healthy. A healthy heart can pump blood efficiently around your body. Your heart will improve in performance when it is regularly challenged with exercise. Stronger hearts can improve overall health of the body.

Sport brings together a mixture of people from different communities, backgrounds, religions and beliefs. Sport can offer a new way to meet others that you may not interact with day to day. As a result, you can make new friends. And who knows, playing a sport might even open new career and business opportunities for you. Regular sport causes more oxygen to be drawn into the body with carbon monoxide and waste gases expelled. This increases the lung capacity during sport, improving lung function and efficiency.

By training frequently and working towards seasonal goals you can build your confidence and abilities. This is especially noticeable through tournaments and matches where you and your team put your skills to the test. Small, incremental achievements throughout the year can build personal confidence over time, giving you the ability to take on new projects and assignments at work with your new-found confidence. When you are physically active your mind gets a chance to unplug from daily stresses and strains of life.

Physical exercise reduces the stress hormones in your body and stimulates the release of endorphins. These endorphins may give you more energy and focus for whatever life has. Content on this website is provided for information purposes only.

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Skip to main content. Children Home Children Sport and children. Actions for this page Listen Print. Summary Read the full fact sheet. On this page. Benefits of sport for children Sedentary pursuits and children Encourage your child to be physically active Sport safety issues Where to get help. Only six out of 10 children aged between five and 14 years participate in sport outside of school, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The Australian Health Survey conducted in April found that 25 per cent of Australian children and teenagers, aged five to 17 years, are overweight or obese, indicating that we need to foster a more sports-minded culture that encourages children to be physically active. People who are active dramatically reduce their risk of many diseases, including heart disease and osteoporosis.

Regular exercise is also known to reduce the risk of emotional problems such as anxiety and depression. Habits are established early in life and evidence suggests that physically active children are more likely to mature into physically active adults. Benefits of sport for children Some of the many benefits of sport participation for children include: reduced risk of obesity increased cardiovascular fitness healthy growth of bones, muscles, ligaments and tendons improved coordination and balance a greater ability to physically relax and, therefore, avoid the complications of chronic muscular tension such as headache or back ache improved sleep mental health benefits, such as greater confidence improved social skills improved personal skills, including cooperation and leadership.