What is physical activity? What are the benefits of sport? Why do women do or ignore sports? How to get rid of limiting beliefs? How not to make mistakes when choosing loads? How to motivate yourself to do sports? What physical activities are recommended? Which sports are better suited for women? What sports are suitable for girls up to 12 years old? What sport is suitable for a teenager between 12 and 18 years old? Which sports are best avoided by women? Which sport is easy to learn and simple to perform? Which sport will bring maximum health benefits? Regular physical activity is important for a woman’s health. Sport helps to maintain an attractive body shape, prevents obesity, reduces the risk of physical illness, and improves psycho-emotional well-being. WHO guidelines state that a person needs at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity every day for normal health. However, only half of women fulfil this recommendation.
What is physical activity?
WHO defines physical activity as any motor act produced by the skeletal muscles in which energy is expended. Physical activity includes all body movements, such as walking to a transport stop. Popular choices for active pastimes include running, cycling, swimming, and moving team games. The main reasons for physical activity deficit are use of motorised transport, demand for gadgets for work and study.
What is the benefit of sports for girls, women?
Moderate physical activity can:
improve cardiorespiratory function; strengthen bone structures; prevent the development of arterial hypertension, heart pathologies; reduce the risk of fractures; maintain a healthy body weight, reduce obesity; improve cognitive outcomes (academic performance, executive function); improve mental health (reducing symptoms of depression). Why do women do or ignore sports? Female members of the fair sex indicate that they exercise regularly to:
improve body shape; prolong youthfulness; relieve stress; feel energised; manage weight; socialise with like-minded people.
Typical ‘barriers’ to exercise that women described:
Lack of time; lack of motivation; family commitments; lack of energy due to workload; inadequate health, inappropriate age; lack of money to pay for participation in the section; gender stereotypes. All the above-mentioned obstacles are nothing more than reservations caused by an erroneous style of thinking.
How to get rid of limiting beliefs?
Tips from psychologists:
Many women combine parenting, household responsibilities, full-time jobs, but don’t find time for themselves. Be sure to take a break and exercise. Three ten-minute warm-ups throughout the day will have the same health benefits as a continuous thirty-minute workout. Some people say they don’t feel motivated because there is no company to exercise with. Join a local hiking club that does hikes. Don’t limit yourself to thinking about gyms. You can have fun by taking dance classes or rollerblading. Often women feel responsible for cooking, shopping, cleaning. Divide the responsibilities. Every member of the family can take care of household chores. Include self-care in the routine. Lack of strength, fatigue – a consequence of a busy lifestyle, lack of balance between physical and mental stress, lack of adequate rest. Regular exercise will provide energy to better cope with workloads, everyday household demands. Older women often have a chronic illness that limits their participation in certain sports. However, with any illness, there is always an acceptable range of exercise. Talk to your doctor about appropriate forms of exercise. Women with poor financial status are less likely to participate in sports than well-to-do people. They do not take into account that to get enough physical activity does not require expensive things, a season ticket to an elite gym. Useful forms of exercise are walking, cycling, swimming in a body of water. Ladies who believe that the meaning of life is to raise children and provide a household, do not make efforts to maintain health. They feel guilty if they take a break. Change your beliefs about role allocation. Remember, to properly care for others, you need to respect and love yourself. How not to make mistakes when choosing loads? Before making changes to the level, physical activity regime, consult a therapist if:
there is a chronic disease; obesity has been diagnosed; you are over 45 years of age; regular exercise has not taken place in the previous 2 years. Screening before choosing a sport is used to identify conditions that may exacerbate the situation with complications from excessive exertion. Medical examination
