Nutritional Health Supplements Guide

Smash It and Lose Weight

It’s Friday night and I’m at the Badminton center working up a sweat, training with the rest of the Iloilo Valiant Badminton Club. As I look around, I see a group of women in their 40s and 50s engaging in an exciting Badminton game of Doubles play. I’ve known them for quite a while, ever since I started training, actually. That was six years ago.

I’ve gotten to know these women for the past six years that I’ve seen them on court; I play with them every now and then. And, I found out that, although they stay until around 10 to 11pm in Badminton courts and join the occasional tournament, the real reason that they take part in this sport is not necessarily to compete, but to stay healthy and get some exercise.

For them, going to the gym is such a solitary thing; Badminton is a much more social form of a weight loss workout. It is a much more enjoyable fat burner.

It turns out, they may have gotten it right.

Although going to the gym is – I admit – much more practical because it’s much more intense, Badminton is not without its advantages as well.

As a matter of fact, playing Badminton until you get an increase in heart rate or get mildly breathless regularly when you’re middle aged lowers the risk of death by around 23% in the subsequent 20 years and improves longevity by at least two years.

Also, if you play Badminton regularly, the High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL) – otherwise known as the “good cholesterol” – in your body increases by 13%, lowering the risk of heart disease. Not only that, but it decreases blood pressure by as much as 11/8 mm Hg, therefore lightening the burden to your heart.

And, get this: It can decrease the production of sugar by the liver and therefore, overall, can decrease fasting blood sugar. In fact, in one study, the Diabetes Prevention Program, says that playing Badminton is able to decrease the incidence of developing diabetes by 58% — which is even better than taking certain medications.

So why not try it out? You can not only improve your health, but gain a friend or two.

See you on court.