According to England’s national team coach, Ian Wright, badminton is the fastest paced of all racket sports, and playing competitively for 30 minutes is roughly equivalent to a brisk five-kilometre walk. Playing at top speed, you can burn up to 1,000 calories per hour. By increasing your heart rate, badminton decreases hypertension and helps to strengthen and condition your heart. It decreases unhealthy cholesterols that contribute to heart disease, while increasing levels of healthy lipoprotein cholesterols.
Playing badminton can also prevent osteoporosis, a condition whereby bones lose their density and become more brittle. “Badminton is a bone-loading sport,” says Jane Taylor, a personal trainer who writes for the Daily Express in the UK. “The impact of hitting the racket and jumping around helps to increase bone density in a way that normal walking will not.” In effect, badminton stimulates cells that form and strengthen bones, helping them to incorporate calcium into your bone matrix.
While badminton is a great physical workout, it can also exercise the mind, helping to fend off common psychosomatic ailments such as depression and anxiety. Badminton’s pace can be lightning fast, and among competitive players it favours those with fast reflexes who can think one or two steps ahead of the play.
The fifth most popular sport in the world, this is partly because almost anyone can play, whether they’re aged eight or eighty years old, because the game can be played at any speed and any skill or fitness level! Plus, badminton is one of the few sports where men and women can play together. This makes it extremely social, with couples, families or friends able to play together, so why go to the gym on your own when you can get as good a workout enjoying yourself? And while you’re having fun, you are also improving the fitness of your heart and lungs, as well as giving your body a full workout and toning muscles you probably didn’t know you had!
Badminton is one of the recommended sports on many doctors referral schemes because, along with the health benefits, it is so easy to pick up at a basic level.