Doing sports will make exercising fun and let you interact with people

WHEN it comes to fitness and toning your muscles, the gym is the first thing that comes to mind.

However, while the treadmill and rowing machines are good contraptions to help keep you in shape, there are more options beyond the four walls of a gym.
 
Doing sports, anything from jogging and swimming to football and tennis, is a good way to flex those muscles and improve your fitness. Also, circuit-training, for example, can increase your endurance
and speed.

So, whether you indulge in sport to keep fit or work out so you can perform better in your favourite sport, there is no denying that kicking a ball around, or even Thai boxing and dancing, are fun and effective ways of keeping fit.

Also, just as the different machines in a gym target different parts of your body, different sports are efficient in fulfilling various fitness objectives.

Running and football, for example, help to boost your stamina, while racket games like tennis or squash improve your reflexes.

Indeed, the benefits are plenty when comparing sport to a gym workout.

“Sport has the social element which is beneficial to overall enjoyment and mental well-being, in addition to physical health. It is more fun and less routine, as compared to gym training,” said Wong Shiyun, a physiotherapist from Alexandra Hospital’s Department of Rehabilitation.

Dr Chang Haw Chong, the consultant orthopaedic surgeon from HC Chang Orthopaedic Surgery, weighed the benefits of sport against that of gym training.

He said sport is fun, provides interaction, helps to burn calories, and improves fitness and stamina. Gym training strengthens muscle groups and improves muscle tone, but is repetitive and lacks interaction.

“Hence, besides being more fun, participating in sport allows for a more balanced workout compared to gym training,” he surmised.

Specifically, medical professionals indicated that sport requires skills and technique, thus improving motor skills.

It also teaches a person to interact with people, be a team player, and to strategise.

In addition, it blends recreation and physical activity, while the activities involved – like running, jumping and stretching – help exercise most parts of the body by strengthening the bones and muscles and toning the body.

Lim Hun Teck, Raffles Hospital’s principal physiotherapist, even pointed out that sport can lead to a happier you.

“Sport generates a positive energy,” he said. “The constructive expenditure of energy that sport brings out is very helpful in keeping a person happy.”

Even so, the medical experts highlighted that it is ideal to include gym training in your fitness routine as these can condition your body and help you perform better in sport while lowering your risk of injury.

And just in case you think your Sunday football sessions with your mates are good enough to keep you fit, they also said that one session a week is insufficient in maintaining fitness levels.
 
The recommended frequency is three sessions a week, with participation in various sports for best effect.

Dr Kelvin Chew, a consultant sports physician from Singapore Sports Medicine Centre and Changi Sports Medicine Centre, explained: “Most people are aware that regular physical activity is associated
with health benefits.

“If exercise is restricted to only one day in the week, there would be a tendency to exercise for either too long or too vigorously in a sitting.

“This may result in injury, so it may be wise to spread out the exercises throughout the week and also participate in a variety of exercises.”

The medical professionals agreed that it is hard to pinpoint a “perfect” sport as each individual has different fitness levels, limitations, preferences and objectives. But, in order to sustain interest, enjoyment is of the utmost importance.

Lim said: “Pursuing the impossible will not improve your stamina and fitness. Furthermore, you will feel frustrated and may even suffer injury.

“What is most important is to select the sports that you will enjoy as this will increase the chances of sticking to them to get in shape and feel good.”

Activities to get you fit

ADD a little sport to your fitness routine for an enhanced shaping-up effect. Better yet, do a variety of them because certain sports are good for meeting specific fitness goals.

For stamina
Generally, stamina-building sports can be any form of cardiovascular exercise, such as running, swimming, cycling or football.

You should exercise at an intensity of between 60 and 80 per cent of your maximum heart rate for at least 30 minutes.

For an average 70-kg person, for example, running at about 10-12kmh for 30 minutes will burn between 350 and 450 calories. Running also involves most of the major lower-limb muscle groups like the
calves, quadriceps, hamstrings and hip musculature.

For an all-round workout
This will require a sport that involves large muscle groups throughout the body, with elements of cardiovascular exercise and strengthening.

Football, aerobics, Thai boxing and dancing fit into this category.

Circuit training combines both aerobic and resistance exercises, and provides a whole-body workout that targets fat loss and strength fitness. It also incorporates most major muscle groups of the body by
involving the upper and lower limbs, and the trunk. The calories consumed will depend on what activities are incorporated, but it is
about 250 to 300 calories for a 30-minute session.

For improving reflexes
Most ball or racket sports can improve motor control, coordination and speed.

Examples of such sports include badminton, tennis, squash, table tennis and hockey. The best way to improve reflexes is to do a variety of these activities, mixing them up so that the body does not become too accustomed to any one routine.

Tennis, for example, forces one to adjust to the placement and speed of the ball. Most major muscle groups are involved in the sport, and an average 70-kg person can burn about 200 to 250 calories for a 30-minute session of moderate intensity.