Have you ever thought about getting out and exercising but not actually been motivated enough to actually do that same thing? There are much greater benefits to participating in activities and exercise than in sitting on your bum. Everyone knows that the more exercise and activities a person does the healthier they will be. In order for this to be true though a person must continue this throughout his/her life and be committed to doing it more than just once in a blue moon. One easy way to get this exercise is to play a lifetime sport.
Lifetime sports include sports that can continue with you for a lifetime, which you can participate in at any age, and don’t have an age season. In this essay I will explore the benefits of lifetime sports and go into detail about some sports that are tried and true favorites of lifetime sport participators. A few of these sports include golf, fitness walking/running, bowling and tennis. Golf may not be a full contact sport, which leads some people to believe it isn’t even a sport, but to play “you need to be mentally and physically fit to be at your best. (Mclaughlin) The origin of the game is widely debated but has never been directly linked with any country or sport. If a person chooses golf as the sport they want to play for their lifetime then there are a few things they will need to get started. Golfers will always need golf balls and clubs. In golf there are four different types of clubs: woods, irons, wedges and putters. (Mclaughlin) Each type of club has its purpose out on the green. The typical golf match will last for either nine or eighteen holes.
The object of golf is to get the ball into the hole, often marked by a flag from a distance, in as few swings as possible. Each hole has a recommended number of swings it should take to make the ball into the hole, this is called par. The idea is to get at or under par on as many holes as you can so that you have a low score. The person with the lowest score in a golf match is the winner. The attire for golfing is khakis and usually a polo shirt or looser fitting shirt to give you more wiggle room.
It is important for golfers to stay hydrated and eat well because golf courses are wide open spaces and have little or no shade and this can wear down a person’s body. Since the courses are so open and spread out this sport involves a lot of walking, unless you have a golf cart, which brings me to the next sport which is fitness walking. Walking/running is not technically considered a sport but it is a lifetime fitness program. The great thing about walking is that it requires no fancy equipment, just your own feet, generally a pair of tennis shoes and a place to put those feet to work.
As I mentioned before when walking/running a person will want to wear tennis shoes since they provide the most comfort to feet and the most support to the back. Walking has been around since the beginning of time and will be around until the end of time. Every person walks differently and at their own pace. Some people are speed-walkers or runners while other people enjoy a leisurely stroll. The time can also vary but generally the more often and longer you walk the better off you will be. Many people like to use a pedometer to keep track of how far they’ve gone.
Nutrition is a very big part of walking because without proper nutrition a person could be walking and his/her body just give out because it hasn’t been nourished properly. Staying hydrated and well fed will give people’s bodies the energy it needs to keep going and keep them healthier. Walking will also increase cardiovascular health and make your heart last longer than a couch-potato heart. Bowling is a competitive sport that requires little to no physical exertion but will get people up off their bottoms and out doing something.
Bowling does not have a set attire except the shoes which are non-skid so that they have grip on the slick floor. The goal of bowling is to get the most number of pins knocked down. There are ten frames which give you 21 attempts to knock pins down. When the ball misses the lane it is called a gutter ball, hitting all ten pins down in one shot is a strike, and hitting all pins in one frame is called a strike. On the last frame if someone gets a strike or spare they will get an additional attempt. Bowling is counted among the oldest sports known to mankind.
Artifacts have been found that suggest that bowling can be dated back to as early as 3200 B. C. As with all sports it is important to maintain a healthy diet when being active and to ensure that Another fun lifetime sport to play at any age is tennis. Tennis tends to be a highly active sport and will require a bit more energy than walking and playing golf. Tennis is played on a court that is fenced off to prevent balls from flying away. The court has a square that the players and ball must stay inside and the square is separated by a net that the ball must go over.
It is a game that can be played by two or four people at one given time. The first score is worth 15 points, the second is worth 15 and the last is worth 10. Once a player reaches 40 points and then wins one last round he/she wins the match. The required equipment is a tennis racquet and tennis balls. Females generally wear skirts and a loosely fitting shirt for better arm range of motion, while males wear shorts or jeans and a loosely fitting t-shirt. Since tennis is a rather face-paced and rigorous sport good nutrition is needed so that players have the energy to keep playing.
Tennis was first created by European monks as a means of entertaining themselves. The duration of a tennis match can be either long or short depending on volley time. A good match can go on for a while depending on how well players return the ball and how well the other player can keep it in the box. There are many long- and short-term benefits to fitness and exercise. Fitness is very important in everyone’s lives and the more people know about getting into and staying in shape the better off the world will be.
People who are physically active tend to live longer, fuller lives than most of the people who sit at home and play video games all day long. Physical fitness helps to boost emotional, mental and physical health. It releases endorphins which are feel good hormones and thereby make you happier. When a person exercises it burns off calories which help people to lose weight and cuts back on obesity. It improves heart health which is good for people at risk of heart disease. Even people with asthma can benefit from physical activities because being active promotes breathing and opens the lungs more to get more air.
Exercising will in the long run increase a person’s energy level by increasing the amount of oxygen getting to all parts of the body. Since people have more energy and will inevitably look more attractive exercise can also improve the sexual health of individuals. After a long day of doing regular daily activities and then exercise, fitness will help to set up regular sleeping patterns. Sometimes exercise just has the added bonus of being fun and enjoyable, many people like the rush it gives and it helps to promote better moods.
Overall fitness is a very important part of life for everyone on Earth. Sports are a fun way to exercise and stay fit, however there are some sports that are too vigorous for people of a certain age. If a person wants to remain consistent in fitness for their entire life they should look into lifetime sports. All exercise takes time and effort but the benefits heavily outweigh the things you must give up. In all exercising it is highly important that the body is properly nourished and well taken care of so as not to inhibit the benefits.
Works Cited
Clarke, Anne “Bowling Rules: How The Game Works. ” Bowling Rules: How The Game Works. 31 Oct. 2006 EzineArticles. com. 26 Feb. 2010. “Exercise: 7 benefits of regular physical activity. ” Fitness. July 25, 2009. Mayo Foundation, Web. 28 Feb. 2010. “Health Benefits of Physical Fitness. ” Nutrition/Fitness. 1999. RxRemedy, Inc, Web. 1 Mar. 2010. “History of Tennis: Early Years. ” History of Sports. 2010. www. historyoftennis. net, Web. 25 Feb. 2010. Mclaughlin, Paul. “Buying Those First Golf Clubs. ” Guide to Golf. 2009. Web. 22 Feb. 2010.
