As most people know, sports and physical activity are extremely important to living a healthy lifestyle. These days, there are so many different ways to get your exercise each day. You can dance, go to a Pilates class, hike, or even kayak. Exercise is good for mental health and physical health, but did you know it can even expand your lifespan? Now, don’t get too excited – certain sports tend to be more beneficial than others.

Each sport has different characteristics that benefit a different part of the body. For example, soccer can help with leg strength, and badminton is helpful for arms. What most people don’t know is that racquet sports help with a combination of things. Securian Financial has an article on their website claiming that “they combine balance, cardiovascular endurance, mental engagement, and hand-eye coordination.”

This leads to racquet sport players increasing their lifespans by about 9.7 years. The article also listed other sports and how many years they can increase one’s life: badminton players 6.2 years, soccer players 4.7 years, cyclers 3.7, swimmers 3.4, and joggers 3.2 years. All sports can help keep you healthy, but these ones specifically help lengthen your life.

Like I stated before exercise is great for physical health. A paper written by PubMed talks more about all of the benefits of physical activity, and its relation to long life expectancy.

“Physical activity reduces many major mortality risk factors including arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus type 2, dyslipidemia, coronary heart disease, stroke, and cancer,” the paper states. The paper also says how physically active people have a decreased death rate by 30% to 35% compared to people who aren’t active – a pretty noticeable difference.

Research is proving that physical activity is good for the mind and the body. It shows in looks, attitude, and even life expectancy. Taking even 30 minutes a day to focus on one’s self can make a huge difference in a person’s health.