How Watching Sports Can Actually be Beneficial to Your Health

It sounds like research produced by the National Society of Couch Potatoes, but there’s something to it. Researchers at the University of Western Sydney have found that merely watching sport can cause your heart and breathing rates to increase. They also found increased nerve activity associated with watching of exercise. Interestingly, they learned that it also happened with watching emotionally charged images, including erotic ones.

This goes beyond direct influence though. Watching great athletes is inspirational. We see how great they look, how physically fit they are, and feel inspired to improve our own fitness. Also, watching sport, not just playing it, is a social pastime. People watch together and make friends. Such strong, positive social interactions are closely linked with general physical and emotional well-being.

So throw out the pies, turn on the sport, or go out and watch it with others. It’ll do you good.