Tennis, running, football, basketball, canoeing, gymnastics, athletics, surfing, horse riding… There are so many sports that it is almost impossible not to like one. Practicing sport brings us many benefits for our body and mind… but, be careful! There are certain factors, circumstances, and situations that can turn wanting to do something into a duty. Thus, we can end up doing sport out of obligation and not to enjoy the time we are doing it.
Generally, when we are driven by commitment or necessity, the intrinsic motivation that was initially present and provided by the activity itself fades away. Therefore, unless recommended by a specialist for the sake of your health, creating the daily obligation to do sports is neither rewarding nor advisable.
Obsession
Doing some kind of physical activity two or three times a week has multiple emotional, psychological, and physical benefits. On the one hand, it can help us disconnect more easily from obligations or sources of worry, strengthening us against possible peaks of stress. In addition, it is a natural antioxidant: it delays premature aging and improves our emotional stability.
The problem arises when we abuse something healthy, turning it into something dangerous. If sport becomes an obsession, it can cause serious psychological disorders, such as vigorexia or dysmorphophobia, and others related to eating behavior, such as bulimia or anorexia nervosa. It can even cause anxiety, which, if it continues, mutates into deep depression or perpetual melancholy.
Masks other problems
One of the main motivations we have for practicing sports is to look better in the mirror. For those who are a few kilos overweight, it helps reduce their body fat; for those who want to maintain their figure, it allows them to keep their muscles in good shape.
Obligatory sport itself undermines the benefits of moderate practice.
But, in any case, we must pay attention to the signals that our body is sending us. If on the day that you cannot exercise due to lack of time, energy, or desire you feel bad, in addition to withdrawal symptoms, your mind is not in harmony. When you depend on something to be well, two things can happen. Either that something is not giving you what you want or there is some other factor or fact that is masked.
For example, it is very common to force ourselves to exercise because that way we get rid of problems. But nothing could be further from the truth: your conflicts are still there afterward, regardless of the number of hours you have spent exercising. You will not be able to solve them by avoiding them, running away, or taking refuge in other activities. That is why, when you stop doing it that day, the anxiety that you have been trying to hide comes to the surface.
Mood swings
Sport is an excellent way to naturally produce endorphins. These opioid peptides cushion pain and give us a feeling of deep well-being. Sport therefore helps us to maintain a good mood, reduce sadness, and strengthen our immune system.
But when we suffer from this strong feeling of dependence, we notice irascibility, irritability, nervousness, and anxiety. With this, we suffer a real paradox: sports practiced regularly make us happy, but from a certain point on, it is the suffering that takes center stage.
Changing priorities
People who spend many hours a day at the gym usually do so at the expense of stealing time from other hobbies, friendships, and activities. Something very characteristic of people in this situation is that their circle of personal relationships is increasingly smaller. And, in addition, they tend to become obsessed with nutrition.
This is why they go out to lunch or dinner with their friends less and less. They don’t allow themselves to disconnect for a day, because they feel that if they do, they will lose everything they have “earned .” In these cases, exercising out of obligation immerses them in a routine that ends up making them prisoners.
It is very healthy to get little ones used to doing leisure activities related to sport. In doing so, they improve their social and motor skills and abilities and enrich their repertoire of values and autonomous behaviors. In this sense, signing your child up for extracurricular classes can increase their sensorial and multimodal stimulation, thus contributing to a more complete and comprehensive development.
However, if the physical activity you are going to do does not satisfy you, it will gradually become an emotional burden that will surely end up negatively affecting other areas of your life.
It is often thought that all children like football. And, therefore, it is good for them to play league matches with their friends on the weekends. But, before making decisions for them, it is advisable to observe your child: their skills, their visual-motor coordination, their hobbies… And let them express how they feel when they play in a team and, specifically, if they are happy playing this sport.
Remember, sport is something positive and very healthy, you can practice a wide variety of them individually or in a team. But it is important that it does not dominate your life or determine your relationships with others, but rather that it is a tool available for your happiness daily.