Badminton is an aerobic activity and will count towards your 150 minutes of moderate activity each week and will help strengthen your heart. Surprisingly, more than one million people in Britain regularly participate in badminton, it is a non-contact sport, suitable for all ages and can be played all year round. It is suitable for people with heart conditions as it can be played however fast or slow you would like it to be. It is easy and cheap to hire a court at your local leisure centre or joining a local club is very easy and a good way to meet new people.
The benefits of badminton have not gone unnoticed, as well as the positive mental benefits of it a study involving 80,000 participants over a 9 year period showed the risk of fatality for someone who plays badminton compared to someone who does no exercise was 47% lower. In comparison to other sports, swimming was 28% lower and cycling 15% lower. A different study showed people who participate in racquet sports have a 59% reduction in cardiovascular disease mortality.
Therefore, if you are looking to start a new sport one session of badminton will count towards 60 minutes of your 150 a week. You can go with a friend and will receive the mental and physical benefits from playing. I love badminton and would love to start playing more. It can be as easy going or as competitive as you like and surprisingly quite challenging if you want it to be. The rules are straight forward to learn and a badminton racquet does not have to be very expensive. It is definitely something I would recommend if you are looking to start a new sport or trying to up your exercise each week.
