Five Reasons Why You Should Play Football Every Week

Football (known as soccer in some parts of the world) is a great game that is played by loads of people around the world. If you have never played the game before, now would be a great time to give it a run. It is an enjoyable game to play, doesn't cost a lot to set up, and the best part is it can be played anywhere.

Apart from the fun that you get from playing football with people, there are a lot of benefits to be gained from the sport. For this article, we will discuss a few of these benefits to give you an idea of how good this sport could turn out to be for you, and why you should be playing it every week!

It gives you a good workout

This is a significant benefit of playing football. The physical activity and exertion involved in kicking the ball and running around with it give your lungs and your heart a pretty good workout. Professionally, football is played over a period of ninety minutes, so you can imagine the sort of cardiovascular exercises that professional footballers get playing every week!

In a ninety minute game of football, a player will run a distance of 7-12km which is a lot more than you would get from a regular jogging session or some other similar workout. Even if you don't play professionally and you only put in about twenty minutes of work playing 5 aside football, the way your heart will be pumping will give you a solid idea of how much cardio you're getting from the "workout."

For perspective, a good cardio workout is beneficial to your health for some reasons. The more you work your heart and your lungs, the more efficient they become. Apart from this fact, your muscles will also develop nicely and become stronger over time, but you have to be consistent with the exercise.

If you play football regularly, you will get fitter and will be able to last for more extended periods at a time on the pitch. Your body will adjust to the changes that you are making to it, and it will pump blood to all your extremities faster than the previous time, every time.

The cardio workout will also help to reduce the risk of exposure to cardiovascular diseases which can be deadly. Your blood pressure has better control, and your overall heart health is continually improving.

It improves your coordination

Playing football regularly will also increase your foot-eye coordination. Complex motions such as making passes, dribbling the ball, knocking the ball with your head, shooting the ball and receiving passes require a reasonable level of foot-eye coordination. If you are new to playing football, you may not start out great in this department, but the good thing is, improvement sets in with regular training.

Just like any other thing, training improves your skill in football. Consequently, playing football every week will see marked improvements in your foot-eye coordination. When you are making the same moves repeatedly, every week, you will get better at playing, and your coordination will improve. Practice makes perfect!

Foot-eye coordination is useful for other things apart from football too. Most of the activities that you carry out in your daily life require specific amounts of foot-eye coordination. So, the result of playing football regularly is that your daily life will also see some improvement.

It increases your endurance

We mentioned earlier how playing football regularly will give you the ability to play for more extended periods over time. That's what endurance is. Working out your lungs and your heart makes them function more efficiently, pumping oxygen and blood through your body and to all the muscles that require them. The more blood and oxygen your muscles get, the more work they can perform without experiencing tiredness.

Increased endurance levels will be beneficial for you outside football too. Performing daily tasks and other exercises will become much easier than they used to be and you can get more work done quicker than you used to be able to.

Better social skills and teamwork

Football is a team sport, so you have to work with a group of people - your teammates - to achieve success. This can help you to improve your social skills and teach you how to work with people even when they may have differing ideas from yours. Improved social skills will help you when you're relating with people outside of the pitch - probably at your place of work or at functions that you attend.

Playing on a team teaches you how to work together with other people to function as a single unit in pursuit of a common goal, and that's what teamwork is. Teamwork will mainly be useful at your place of work where you may have to work with colleagues to achieve a common goal for the good of your business or company.

To get an experience of what playing on a football team feels like, you can start by joining one of the 5 aside football leagues in London. Playing with your team against opponents will also help you to learn the spirit of sportsmanship.

Increased Strength

Football also helps to improve your overall strength. The constant running will tone your leg muscles in a way that some actual fitness equipment could never. Jumping to head a ball or kicking it hard will also contribute to strengthening your leg muscles.

Other kinds of movement in football that engage your chest, back and core muscles also make all of these stronger. Football will increase your overall muscle strength, making it easier for you to perform tasks that require physical strength.

Conclusion

To get started, all you have to do is join one of the many 5-aside football leagues in London. You may even create a team with a couple of friends if you want something less "official." The important thing is to get started and go on from there. Have a good one!

Cynthia Madison is a young blogger and economics and marketing graduate. She writes about home, lifestyle and family topics and is a senior contributor to popular niche publications.