6 reasons why playing sports will make you a better student

Author : Ana Blanca Aguaviva

[IG: @anablanchu - @anablanchustudy]

If there is something that is taken lightly, it is the mental health of students . How many times have we heard that “well before it was much worse”? Dozens, maybe hundreds. Millennials and Generation Z are also known as “ the glass generation ” because it seems that only the oldest in life have the right to have mental health problems, because only their problems are real and important.

We students have faced very complicated situations ; from the pressure we receive from our parents, teachers and ourselves, to the COVID pandemic and online classes with total uncertainty . And surely when we have been like this, in the middle of exam week, with two thousand things to do and no time because we have a terrible time, we don't even think about playing sports .

6 reasons why playing sports will make you a better student .

1. Sport helps us be real with our priorities :

Many of us say that sport is a priority but we do nothing to prove it. Starting to do it, and having it as a real priority helps us give less importance to studies. This makes us less affected by everything that has to do with them, whether we are doing worse, or if we are doing better, and we will stop stressing so much. This reduction in stress ultimately means that we can perform more, and enjoy the time we dedicate to studying .

2. We will see a direct improvement in academic performance :

• You train your ability to concentrate : when you do sports you have to be very careful to count the repetitions so as not to get lost, concentrate on the muscle, and on doing the exercise well... well, that is training your ability to focus , and then you will see that it also works for you. easier to concentrate when studying.

• By taking our minds off studying for a good part of the day, when we have to start studying we are clearer and not so burned out . It must be understood that the study works like a Gaussian bell. The more hours we study, the better grades we get, until we reach a plateau that if we overcome we will see that no matter how many hours we put in, our grades decrease. Sometimes studying for less time but of higher quality is what helps us stay at the peak of the bell.

• The hormones that sport makes us release activate areas of the brain that are responsible for attention, concentration, and also memory , so not only will you study more concentrated and attentive, but then you will remember more of what you study.

3. Improves self-esteem

And what will this have to do with studies? Well, the fact of gaining self-confidence thanks to the improvement of your self-esteem gives you confidence when taking exams. You will stop doubting yourself so much and you will see it reflected in the grade

• It directly relieves the stress that study generates, because it is an escape route to release all that tension.

• Sport, if there is one thing it does, is TIRE US . If we are tired we sleep better , and sleeping better is what allows us to perform more during the day at an academic level.

• To play sports, and to study, you need to be constant , and it is something that sport also teaches us and shares with studies.

In short, I hope that the next time you consider stopping doing sports because you don't have time, you will consider that this is exactly when you need all these positive effects the most . Or why not, start playing sports because in the end, it will make you a better student, and above all, a happier person.