5 Health Benefits of Playing Baseball

Baseball remains the most popular sport in the United States. Besides being a popular pastime for a lot of people, baseball also has many benefits, whether you play as a professional or casually. Baseball teaches teammates to learn how to work together, and for each sportsperson to learn their role and follow a set game plan. Additionally, baseball has a lot of benefits, five of which we will look at below.

Cardiovascular Health

Baseball includes a lot of running, and running is one of the best cardio exercises you can do. Cardio exercise strengthens the heart and blood vessels, helping keep various cardiovascular diseases and conditions away. Cardiovascular exercise also helps improve our mood and overall happiness because it helps release endorphins, which are known as feel-good hormones due to their ability to elevate moods.

The cardiovascular exercises done during baseball also help increase lung capacities. Larger lung capacities increase oxygen intake and can come in handy when the body requires additional oxygen during other types of exercise.

Burning Calories

Catching, walking, swinging, and running all require energy and this energy comes from the calories we consume. All these activities during a game of baseball increase your metabolism and lead to the burning of calories that provide the energy required during this activity.

When we burn calories, we decrease the amount of fat we have in the body and increase our muscle mass. With a sport such as baseball that requires muscle strength, this increase in muscle mass can help with pitching and swinging. However, take care not to bulk up too much because while it may improve pitching and hitting, it might hinder your ability to run through the bases.

Stronger Arms

Most of what happens in baseball has to do with the arms. These include swinging the bat, throwing the ball, and catching it. All these activities require and activate numerous muscles in the arms, chest, back, and shoulders. One additional effect of this is improved upper body strength that can be beneficial in other areas and ways. Another one is improved joint health and flexibility.

Baseball helps players improve their arm strength on and off the field. Practicing the right way can also help, which happens when players use a pitching machine during practice. Players can use different types of pitching machines for practice, and they can shop for them through retailers who sell every type imaginable including baseball and softball combo machines.

Stress Relief

We know from numerous studies done over the decades that exercise can help lower stress levels and reduce the risk of depression in the long term. Baseball improves mental focus, refreshes the mind, improves concentration and helps players get away from everyday stressors. The result is reduced stress levels among those who regularly play baseball.

In addition to stress relief, baseball also helps sharpen the mind. Baseball players are making decisions all the time during a game, with many of these decisions made in a split second. You need a sharp mind to make the right decision all the time. As you play baseball, you train your mind to think faster, and this is what leads to success in the long term.

Strong Legs

Baseball also engages the lower body, namely the muscles in the legs. Baseball players have to squat, run, stand around, and walk through the game. These activities engage all the muscles in the legs including the glutes, calf muscles, thigh muscles, and hamstrings. The short bursts of running are especially useful in building strong legs.

As you can see, baseball has a lot of health benefits, especially for those who play regularly. Baseball engages different parts of and muscles in the body, and this is why it has so many benefits.