Find out why football is an effective workout

It doesn’t take much to fall in love with the universe that is football. Thanks to a brilliant World Cup this summer, the beloved sport is still on everyone’s mind.

Football’s popularity extends far beyond the realm of fandom and goes right onto the pitch as more and more athletes join local amateur leagues as they strive to keep fit and active. No matter what your age or fitness levels may be, playing the game regularly has the power to condition your body to be incredibly agile and strong.

It’s easy for us to watch the professionals spend 90 minutes running up and down a field without really appreciating the amount of stamina that’s required of them. But when was the last time you ran up a flight of stairs without being winded? That explosive drive comes from healthy amounts of high intensity cardio that can help anyone build powerful muscles and burn fat nearly faster than any other sport out there. It’s a demanding game but you’ll end up feeling more energetic than you might from simply hitting the gym.

Football is as much a mental game as it is a physical one, so conditioning yourself to adapt to its high demands is going to make you a faster, stronger and more skillful player. What people begin to realise once they start playing is that football can really motivate you to love running. If you hate the idea of spending time on the track or treadmill, burning calories on the pitch suddenly becomes a genuinely enjoyable activity.

Many of the positive health benefits of the sport come from the demanding lateral and vertical moves that are required of all players, and most of these changes will hit you right in the legs and core. Football uses a lot of different muscle groups due to its constant and quick changing motions, so expect to see your endurance levels go through the roof.

But there’s obviously more to football than just a great overall body workout, and it can probably be best appreciated in a community like Dubai. There are leagues all over town for kids and adults alike, helping strangers build friendships through a mutual love of the game. Football has a way of combining a great workout with building important social bonds.

It’s called ‘the beautiful game’ for a reason and the sooner you decide to explore all of football’s benefits, the more beautiful it becomes. - kadry@khaleejtimes.com

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Check out any of these groups to get started: Power Play Football Centre in Business Bay (www.powerplay.ae/), Dubai Amateur Football League (www.dubaifootball.leaguerepublic.com) or Football Academy in Dubai Sports City (www.footballacademydubai.com).

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Football doesn’t require much more than some space and a ball, like the Predator Europa League Capitano by Adidas. Dhs299 from www.souq.com

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