Research: this popular sport helps you live 10 years longer
If there is one thing that the Olympic Games have left me with, it is a whole dose of motivation to start exercising again. Good timing, because those vacation pounds won't just disappear on their own. Now we already know that rollerblading a lot of calories are burned, but if I may speak for myself, I am not looking forward to all sorts of scrapes. I prefer a sport where I come home in one piece. Fortunately, there are plenty of those, although there is one specific sport that research suggests could even add a decade to your life.
No, not swimming. Also not running. It’s about all sports that involve a racket. Think of tennis and padel, but also badminton, pickleball, squash, and table tennis. Racket sports top the list when it comes to increasing someone's life expectancy. During a study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, more than 80,000 adults were followed over a period of nine years to compare the impact of different sports on a person's health. People who regularly practiced racket sports had a 47% lower chance of dying early than those who were not physically active. This was almost 20 percent higher than swimming. Swimming came in second place with a 28 percent lower chance of a shorter life.
What is the reason for this? A few reasons. Number one is that a racket sport is very good for cardiovascular health, which can reduce the risk of heart disease, heart attacks, and strokes by 56%. The aerobic and anaerobic exercises stimulate the ability to stay active and move for long periods, which is very beneficial for the heart and blood vessels.
Tennis, squash, and table tennis also improve cognitive health. They require physical and mental coordination, focus, reflection, and alertness. At the same time, you train all the muscles in your body with a racket sport: back, shoulders, arms, abdominal muscles, but also your thighs. Oh, and you burn a whole lot of energy which can help you maintain a healthy weight.
There is certainly living proof. Just look at Ni Xia Lian, the 61-year-old Chinese table tennis player who represented Luxembourg at the tournament this year. She is officially the oldest person to have won a table tennis match at the Olympic Games . Zhiying Zeng, another table tennis player, also shows that a racket sport can certainly contribute to a long healthy life. Zeng is 58 years old and participated in her first Olympic Games this year.
Yet of all racket sports, tennis has come out best in the test. Tennis players can expect their life expectancy to increase by an average of nearly ten years. Badminton came in second place with 6.2 years.
What do you have to lose? Well, a lot of years of life. So get on that court quickly.
