#20: Is Football Healthy?
Watching champions league football from your couch - especially as a Juventus supporter - is definitely not that healthy. But what about a light game of football among friends?
I love football. I love everything about football. But ever since my wife and I settled down and had kids, what little time I had for an odd football scrap was taken from me.
Two years later, as a relatively ‘untrained athlete’ in the context of the football, I decided to make a return to the game with a light game of five-a-side.
What Type Of Physical Activity Is Football, Really?
In a single 45 minute half, I burned exactly 500 calories, reached heart-rate-highs of 175bpm, and had an average heart rate of 151bpm throughout the entire duration of the game. Moreover, I covered 4,000 steps.
At it’s core, the nature of the activity bears a stark likeness to that seen in conventional HIIT. Because in walking (25%), jogging (37%), running (20%), sprinting (11%) and backwards running (7%), football makes use of both aerobic and anaerobic energy systems.
Aerobic exercise is when the oxygen you breathe is carried to your muscles through action of your lungs and heart (it is associated with low-intensity exercise). Anaerobic exercise, conversely, takes over when the body’s oxygen demands are not being met through the aerobic system. Anaerobic exercise cannot be performed for long periods of time - because it depletes energy resources quickly - so your body works aerobically to replenish the oxygen debt built during the bouts of high-intensity.
From the aerobic system, a human body uses fat as the main fuel. But when switching to anaerobic, the body then uses carbohydrate in the form of stored glycogen as the main fuel.
By playing football, you would be putting your body through a series of multi-joint and multi-muscle. Muscles coordinate with each other to produce the most efficient movement possible, amid multi-directional forces. In layman’s terms, a footballer’s entire body is engaged during the match.
The Mental Advantages Of Football Cannot Be Ignored
Football is a team game. Whether you like it or not, that means communication in-game. Communication will create harmony between players and will profoundly impact the result of the match, as players - whether they like to admit it or not - play to win.
The advantages of camaraderie born of the game could potentially make its way into one’s day-to-day life, potentially boosting mental health by way of added confidence and self-esteem.
Following the match, I felt as though all the edge I carried with me previously had been left on the pitch. I went home feeling relaxed AF, especially after a nice, cold shower. Football was instrumental in providing a common interest for all players, and a subsequent bond.
One study had participants attend a weekly 90-120 minute football session held by four professional and semi-professional clubs working with a mental health program. Together they determined that the game was found to have profound benefits on the subjects’ mental health. But interestingly, the key to its success was the maintenance of a “positive, inclusive environment for players”. The program was initially designed to be non-competitive. But this was changed after players noted that they wouldn’t really want to play a game that’s non-competitive.
All This Is Well And Good In Theory, But Is Football’s Health Benefit Supported By Science?
One study showed that a regular five-a-side football game could have profound health benefits. Indeed, playing the game on the regular was was shown to:
Reducing body fat
Reduce blood pressure
Increase muscle mass
Increase bone strength
Improve stamina
Improve concentration and coordination
Boost confidence (mainly through social interactions
The above was seen in adults, but another study showed that football can also benefit the kiddos too. Lower fat mass and higher muscle mass was seen across the board in kids opting for football as a sport.
Football, inherently an impact sport, can be dangerous if you’re seriously ‘playing to win’. But amongst friends who use the activity as a means to be healthier, the chance of injury is reduced. So don’t be afraid to get those cleats on and tear up a pitch.
