The Top 10 Social Benefits of Exercise and Sports
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We’ve broken down ten social benefits of sport with the help of Sports Engagement Officer, Ella Thompson-Moulding, to show how sport is joyful, community-building, and helps improve your sense of belonging.
1. Finding friendship through exercise and sport
If you have ever found the courage to turn up to a new activity alone, you will recognise the empowerment that comes from breaking out of your comfort zone, meeting new people, and making connections with others.
Sport and exercise makes this process even easier! Activities like Rock Up & Play sessions are built around allowing for easy participation as you’re welcomed whatever your experience level. Plus, you could attend regularly to build your sporting ability and your friendships with those around you. Activities like this are the perfect occasion to harness your passion to connect with others.
You might also find these connections forming through activities such as regular gym sessions,, swimming, or climbing, where shared routines and goals bring people together. Check out our article about making friends at the gym for tips on how to break the ice.
2. Developing teamwork skills
Teamwork is a vital part of sports and a key skill that benefits our social and professional lives. Ella, Sports Engagement Officer for Warwick Sport, thinks that sport ‘absolutely’ helps people to be team players in other environments.
"Whether you are at a fun Rock Up session or in a competitive sports club, everyone needs to collaborate, share and work for others to help get the most out of an opportunity. A lot of people say that sport or physical activity at any level provides a sense of community, and a lot of opportunities would not happen if it weren’t for everyone’s inputs and efforts. Many people in sport give up their free time to help others or volunteer, which improves your ability to be a team player massively."
Being part of that puzzle and contributing your time and energy not only shows you are a team-player, it also helps you feel a sense of belonging – which is also our next social benefit of sport…
3. Finding a sense of belonging
Belonging is a feeling that we can take for granted, but sport and exercise is an incredible platform for finding the community that creates a sense of belonging. It is a place for mentorship, competition, and support. Belonging, while sharing similarities with friendship, shows you have a place in a community that goes beyond friendship. It depends on your character, commitment, and capacity for teamwork.
You can develop your sense of belonging by becoming a consistent participator in your sports or exercise. Or, why not use your passion to inspire and guide others by stepping up to be an Activator?
4. Using exercise to build your confidence
Have you thought about how sport and exercise can help your confidence? Build confidence by sticking to a schedule that works for you whether you’re chasing competition wins or nailing those personal goals. Ella highlights how Rock Up & Play can help with confidence through its ‘inclusive environment.’
"Attending anything new is scary but Rock Ups are very beginner friendly and welcoming to anyone wanting to try something for the first time or just play a sport casually. You will meet lots of new people and get stuck in with the activity which will do wonders for your confidence. After the first time you go, walking into that new environment will become so much easier, a skill you can take into lots of scenarios in life."
Rock Ups are an amazing space to develop your confidence in your sport and in yourself.
5. Driving motivation through sport and exercise
Boost your motivation by putting in effort to create a cycle that sees you setting goals, working towards them, and achieving them. This will develop your trust in yourself.
Sport and exercise help build this pattern as you can set incremental goals, whether you’re working to master a new technique or hit a new personal best. Accumulating these successes is a great motivator to reach a bit higher for your next goal as you already have confidence in your ability to achieve.
Sport and exercise also supports motivation in your daily life, as it offers a well-deserved break away from everyday stresses by redirecting your attention to the task at hand, giving you a release. This helps you stay refreshed so you can maintain motivation in your other tasks and work.
6. Support your wellbeing
The stresses and pressure of daily life can mean that you don’t feel like you can spare the time or energy to commit to sport and exercise. This is why having free Rock Up & Play sessions can be incredible for your wellbeing.
These sessions happen regularly across a number of our spaces, allowing you to build them into your routine to give yourself a well-deserved pause and something you can look forward to. However, if you are unable to attend, they are free which allows you to ease up on any stress over financial commitment.
Alongside this, wellbeing-focused classes such as yoga, Pilates and Zumba, can offer valuable time to reset both physically and mentally.
7. Improving your communication techniques
How does sport help people become better communicators? Ella says that sport relies on communicating with others ‘constantly, whether this is your teammates, a coach or an official’, so you can develop the confidence to talk to lots of different people. She also shows how sport encourages different kinds of communication.
"To get the most out of a sporting scenario, you may need to be able to ask questions if you are unsure, ask others if you can join in their group or lead by example and show someone else a particular skill. Physical activity encourages communication under distraction i.e. talking whilst playing a sport which often makes people feel more comfortable and less pressured whilst speaking to others."
Once you have worked on how to calmly and effectively communicate in the pressurised environment of your sport, you can feel confident in using similar strategies for approaching challenges in other parts of your life.
8. Improve your resilience
Resilience has both a physical and a mental side to it, and both sides can be developed through participating in sports and exercise.
You can become more resilient by setting yourself challenges in your sport and exercise, or by striving to achieve something you had previously thought was out of reach. This might look like upping your reps or weights at the gym, trying out a new machine, or perhaps trying new techniques or set pieces in your sport.
Resilience also reflects in how you present yourself. Sport and exercise can help you improve your resilience by encouraging you to think logically and to stay calm even when you are feeling stressed, distracted, or tired.
9. Extend your comfort zone
Your comfort zone will likely contain a list of sports and exercises you feel like you can do and what level you imagine you can perform at. Have you considered how this might actually be limiting you?
There are lots of reasons to stick to what you are familiar with, especially if you are recovering from an injury, but engaging with free activities like Rock Up & Play offers you the opportunity to see how your skills can be applied to a new activity. Extending your comfort zone can lead to you meeting new people, finding new passions and finally…
10. Self-discovery
Starting a new chapter of your life is the perfect opportunity for self-discovery, and one of the amazing aspects of Warwick is the wide range of sports and activities that are available here.
Ella highlights how you can try sports and activities that are brand new to you through our handball, pickleball, or Muay Thai Rock Ups. This is a great option if you haven’t clicked with sports you have tried previously, or if want to give something else a go.
If you aren’t sure where to start, you can take a look at the UoW Sport App to view and book a session. Ella recommends wellbeing runs/walks, yoga, Pilates and Fitness Dance, which can help provide great work-life balance.’ However you choose to get moving, you’ll find a wealth of opportunities and like-minded people at these fun, casual sessions.
Charlie Nova Content Contributor, Warwick Sport
Charlie is passionate about fitness, health, and wellbeing. He enjoys climbing, lifting, running, football, and is always eager to try new sports.
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