The Dual Benefits of Sports: Mental and Physical Health Impacts

Sports are extremely important in our daily life. We face sports nearly every time and everywhere. When talking about the benefits of sports, most of us may think of the physical effects of sports. However, sports benefit us more than we expect. Although the physical benefits are vital, we can’t ignore its effects on our mental health and its contribution to our society. And the latter one may be more important than the former one. In this essay, I will first state the physical and mental benefits of sports and their effects on our society and then compare which one is more significant for us humans.

Physical Benefits of Sports

First, the benefits of sports on physical health are very important. Doing sports can strengthen our muscles, develop our reaction ability, and keep us away from illness. Take the traditional Chinese sport, Tai Ji Quan, as an example. In a large-scale, cross-sectional study conducted in the city of Shiyan in Hubei province, healthy individuals aged 50–70 years who practiced Tai Ji Quan were compared to those who did not practice it. The results showed that practicing Tai Ji Quan was associated with a reduced risk of having metabolic syndrome. The study also indicated a dose–response relationship, suggesting that each h/week increment in Tai Ji Quan practice was associated with a 5% lower risk of metabolic syndrome (Yucheng Guo, 2016). We can see that sports greatly help those old people from illness. And the sports are equally important to our mental health.

Mental Benefits of Sports

Many people don’t notice the contribution of sports to our minds. When we do some sports we like, we may feel relaxed. Sports can also help us reduce our pressure and enable us to concentrate on our projects. In addition, sports can cultivate our Self-control Ability. After taking part in some sports competitions, students will face different pressure after winning and losing. Through frequent and deep experience with such pressures and the right guidance and support of teachers, undergraduates can gradually cultivate good self-control ability in psychology so as not to become dizzy with success nor be discouraged by failure, which enables them to calmly face various pressures and tests in social competition and family life (Fachang Wang, 2010).

Social Benefits of Sports

The effects of sports on our society are also important. When involved in some sports competitions, most of the time, they must communicate with their teammates or competitors. There is a competition where there is cooperation. Cooperation shows the friendship between people. It is one of the reasons to increase cohesion and to create a harmonious relationship, further on, create a harmonious society (FAN Guangjun, 2010). However, society is made by humans and developed by our emotions. Sports help build our society by influencing our feelings toward others. So it affects society is a kind of effect on our minds.

Conclusion: The Primacy of Mental Effects

It’s absolutely that the mental effects are more important than the physical ones. The most important reason is that our society’s development is mainly based on ability. We judge a person mainly for the soul inside him, not for his appearance. Moreover, society is made by many people, not a person, and we must learn to live in it. Even if you play sports well, you may not be accepted by society for not being easily accessible. And the mental effects of sports can help us.

Sports are part of our lives. We must attach great importance to it, especially for college students who are about to enter society. And when we do it, we must pay equal attention to its mental and physical benefits.

Reference list

• Yucheng Guo, Haiyang Shi, Dinghai Yu, Pixiang Qiu, 2016. Health benefits of traditional Chinese sports and physical activity for older adults: A systematic review of evidence, Journal of Sport and Health Science, pp.3(272)
• FAN Guangjun. The Study of the Relationship Between Sports and Building a Harmonious Society, 2010 International Symposium--Sports Science and Engineering, pp.4(10)

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