Ice hockey often is associated, incorrectly, as a sport that is full of injuries, fighting, and a sport with a lot of more potential downsides. In fact, playing ice hockey has far more health benefits than risks.
Playing hockey is a full-body workout and can offer an array of health benefits that can help you for the rest of your life.
- Cardiovascular: To begin with, hockey is a cardio sport. Your cardiovascular system includes your heart and lungs and is responsible for supplying blood and oxygen throughout your body. The more you work this system, the healthier your body will be.
- Stress reduction: Cardiovascular exercises release endorphins, improving your mood and reducing the risk of depression. It can also help with providing brain fuel, giving you more oxygen to your brain, allowing you to think quicker and clearer.
- Calorie burning: Not only can playing ice hockey boost your metabolism, but it will also burn calories. This will help keep you fit, reducing the amount of fat in your body while increasing your muscle tone. Having a boosted metabolism means you will process foods quicker, helping keep you thinner.
- Muscle building: On the topic of muscles, hockey is quite the workout. You engage your whole body when you play, including your core, leg muscles, and your arm muscles, all of which will be moved and strengthened while you play. The more muscles that you build, the better you will be able to play and you will find that you are stronger in other areas of your life as well.
- Hand-eye coordination: You might not have considered it, but hockey can also help improve your hand-eye coordination. You have to be able to feel the puck with your stick and control its movement on the ice itself. Different sticks supply different levels of feel, which is a completely individual choice. Go here to find out what the best choices of hockey sticks are.
- Social building: Communication and teamwork is essential to be successful in hockey. You will build relationships both on and off the ice that will positively impact your life. As you work with a team, you will develop better communication and problem-solving skills.
- Agility: With a combination of hand-eye coordination and better overall physical health, your agility will also improve the more you play hockey. You have to be able to think quickly on your feet, move when you need to, and have spot-on reflexes. You will find that your body and mind both become more agile the more you play.
When it comes down to it, hockey is one of the fastest-paced and most skill-building sports that you can play. You will be able to develop skills that will carry over into so many other aspects of your life while you commit to a sport that you will be able to play as long as you want to.
Hockey has so many benefits that you have to ask yourself, why not play?