Are you tired of going to the gym only to jump on a treadmill and run for 60 minutes straight with a blank stare on your face? You really ought to get outside and brush up on those soccer skills. It is a good idea to mix up your daily exercise regimen with different, and interesting, team sports. Soccer is one of the most popular sports in the world and it also happens to give you the best cardiovascular workout possible.
Why is soccer, as opposed to other forms of team sports, such a great cardio workout? Although it is a good idea to play any type of team sport for exercise, soccer gives you a distinct advantage when it comes to weight loss and healthy living because it has a built in interval training routine. Interval training is the practice of moving your body at high speed for a brief period only to slow down and rest for another brief period. By alternating between sprints and relaxation you are burning more fat than you would just by keeping up a solid pace.
The very nature of soccer provides you with the benefit of interval training because the soccer field is so large. When playing soccer you will often find yourself sprinting to control and move the ball only to pass it forward or shoot it and take a moment to rest while the play happens on the other end of the field. Even if they play on a small field you will find that soccer players tend to sprint for brief periods and slow down for others. The game causes them to naturally practice alternating speeds.
Cardio is all about burning fat and burning calories. You can burn fat through interval training and you can burn calories through muscle toning. Soccer gives you both of these exercises in one because you will be sprinting back and forth to get the ball and you will be toning your leg muscles to manipulate and control the ball. You can find more information on soccer and other great sports at the Sports Bag Blog. There really isn’t a better sport out there if you’re looking for a good cardio exercise except for ice hockey and that’s only because you use different muscles to skate.