The referee blows the whistle. It’s game time. 15 minutes later, your team is almost scoring. The pressure is rising in the room. You and your friends are cheering. You are all shouting. But then, the ball licks the goal post as it heads out. You all sit down and start analyzing why your favorite footballer did not score.
Does this sound familiar? If you are a football fan or you enjoy any other sports game, you are familiar with the above situation. Maybe you have sat down after watching the game and asked yourself, “does this fandom thing have any benefits?” This article will help answer your question. Being a sports fan is good for your health. Read on to find out how fandom helps keep you healthy.
Top Reasons Why Fandom is Great for Your Health
1. It Prevents Depression
Fandom creates a sense of community. When you are a sports fan, you are much more likely to create connections. This will keep you from ever being lonely. The community you build as a sports fan will be made up of individuals who have similar interests as yourself.
Sure, you might feel sad when you discover that the game has ended and your team has lost. However, you will always have a team of people who understand how you are feeling to share with. The sadness won’t last.
2. It Can Help You Burn Calories
Think of watching a live sport. Think of all the cheering, jumping up and down, and walking to and from the stadium. This will help you burn a lot of calories. Watching a live sport can be classified as a workout. Watching the game at home with your buddies can also be a workout. You will be cheering too although you might not be moving as much as you would if you were at a live event.
Watching sports can also inspire you to emulate your favorite players. Players are usually fit. Wanting to be like them will surely motivate you to start working out more.
3. Fandom Can Help You Live a Longer Life
If you are not a sports fan, you probably wonder why sports fans focus on watching sports while they could just use internet to check live football scores. You can also find 777score: nba scores here, which will allow you to know the results of all matches. Fandom does have more benefits than helping the fans know the live results. While the sports fans may not know it, their fandom could help them live longer.
An individual cannot rely on football to live longer. He or she has to also eat right, focus on good sleep, and exercise. However, fandom offers strong social support. Social support helps individuals heal faster when they are sick. Also, as we have already mentioned, fandom does help keep stress and depression away. Happy people do live longer.
4. You Keep Your Mind Active
If you are an avid sports fan, chances are, you sit down and analyze the game with your friends. This constitutes mental exercise. It keeps your mind both active and sharper.
A study done by the University of Chicago verified that the part of the human brain used by players when they are in the field is also used by fans when they discuss sports. This study is enough proof that fandom does help keep your mind both shaper and active.
5. It Can Help You Build Self-Esteem
Navigating through life without self-esteem is one of the toughest things an individual can do. Good for sports fans, their fandom can help them build self-esteem. Take for example when the team a fan is supporting wins. He or she will feel good about himself or herself.
Apart from the wins boosting a fan’s self-esteem, when fans have allegiance to a certain team, it gives them a sense of belonging. This is beneficial to emotional health. It helps boost the individual’s self-image.