With so many popular sports for strengthening your body that you might already be practicing to keep fit – such as swimming or cycling – it can be easy to forget some others that offer equal fun and an amazing whole-body workout as well. It may even surprise you how challenging and fulfilling taking up one of these activities can be. So, here are just 9 of the best sports for strengthening your body that are often overlooked.
Among the many sports for strengthening your body that you can try out, badminton may not be first on your list. Waving around a light racquet to get that little birdie over the net doesn't seem like that much of a workout, does it? Well, you may want to think again. Badminton – when played as it should be played – requires a lot of endurance, balance and agility to keep up and works out your whole body.
Though you might not believe it at first, cricket requires a lot of power and endurance, first of all, simply because of the length of the game and the heavy protective gear it requires. Also, a lot of running is required, and when playing in overcast or extremely hot weather conditions, you’ll find the game will quickly drain your energy levels.
Netball is very similar to basketball, so your arm and leg muscles will certainly get a work out. Also, being a defender in this sport is especially challenging, since you have to cover a lot of ground, and anything from simple line defense to shadowing and surprise counterattacks require a lot of accuracy, speed and strength.
This is probably one of the hardest sports for strengthening your body that you can try. The difficulty in mastering a triathlon is that it’s composed of three very trying sports: swimming, cycling and marathon running – each complete with courses designed to push your body to the limit.
Rowing is a sport that requires a unique blend of raw strength and refined technique. Rowers need to combine their leg drive with a remarkable level of upper body strength, while pacing each stroke to build up constant speed and avoid fatigue during a race.
Similar to baseball, softball actually requires a lot more strength, especially when you play as a pitcher. There are even specialized training plans designed solely for softball players to improve their strength using dumbbells, complex hip and arm motions or exercises with gradually increasing weights.
Everyone knows ice hockey is among the best sports for strengthening your body but its close cousin, field hockey, can in many ways be even more effective. Aside from fighting the other team, players also need to fight the strong fatigue that builds up in their legs throughout the tiresome play time.
Water polo is a sport that’s quite popular in Europe, but not so much in the US. Nevertheless, you won’t find a lot of better ways to boost your strength than combining the raw power and endurance required for swimming with an actual ball game similar to soccer, but played in a large swimming pool.
Somewhat similar to soccer, yet definitely not that popular, lacrosse is one of the best sports for strengthening the body and boosting your agility, coordination and ability to maintain higher levels of speed. Endurance and stamina are always required to fend off tricky attacks and fight for loose balls on the field.
This was my list of great, but rather overlooked sports you can take up for strengthening your body. Which one would you like to try out? Do you have any other lesser known sports in mind that could require and encourage us to boost our strength, stamina and endurance?
Sources:
topendsports.com
weighttraining.com
teamliquid.net
tt.tennis-warehouse.com
humankinetics.com
bleacherreport.com