As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Playing a pickup game of volleyball or being on a high school team isn’t just about having a good time. There are many health benefits of volleyball that you will gain each time you step out onto the court.
Contents
Physical Health Benefits of Volleyball
Burns Calories
When you are playing volleyball, you should be in constant motion. You have to move to the ball, follow it by shuffling side to side or sprinting. There is also the act of jumping up to hit or block. All this movement and exercise helps you burn calories.
Playing a sport like volleyball is a great way to start exercising and get you back into shape while having a good time with your friends. Pairing this with healthy meals like seafood and vegetables lead to better results!
Tones Muscles
You have to be strong while playing volleyball. It isn’t a weak sport. This is due to the need to control the ball while you are hitting. Your arms need to hold strength as they work for the ball through a:
- bump
- set
- spike
These motions alone will tones your arms and back. The foot work and staying on your toes with your knees slightly bent will help tone your calves and thighs.
Enhances Energy Levels
As you continue to play, you will be gaining more endurance to go for longer periods of time without needing to take a break. The exercise will also have your heart rate up while you are playing. This will pump more blood through your body which in turn gives you a higher blood oxygen level, allowing you to have more energy throughout the day.
Boosts Circulation
There are many different ways that you can boost your blood circulation to help improve your health. When you have poor circulation, you will notice that your hands and feet tend to be colder than the rest of your body, also any wounds on your feet and legs take longer to heal.
When you get a healthy does of exercise, like volleyball, this gets you moving. It also introduces more oxygen into your bloodstream and helps strengthen your heart to boost your circulation.
Increases Joint Health
Volleyball is a great sport to offer exercise to individuals that suffer from joint pain. This is because it can be a lower impact sport, depending on how you play. You also need to have a strong frame, which will help you tone up your arms and legs for better joint support.
Just make sure that you warm up before you go out onto the court. This will help your joint be ready for exercise.
Promotes Heart Health
Incorporating exercise into your weekly routine is the right way to get your heart pumping stronger. When your heart is forced to work harder over periods of time, then you are also building up its own muscle, promoting better circulation and blood flow.
Improves Balance
Playing volleyball can help you improve your balance thanks to it’s workout on your core muscles. When you have a stronger core, it better supports your upper body.
This strength will help you have better balance and will hep support your overall posture so that you are not slouching or off center when you stand or walk. Make sure you are equipped with really good quality volleyball shoes that have great traction to improve your balance and agility on the court.
Mental Health Benefits of Volleyball
Improves Hand-Eye Coordination
Volleyball is a great sport to help you better harness and improve your hand eye coordination. This is because the ball will be coming to you in the air, you will have to locate the ball with your eyes and position yourself and your hands to be able to hit it and play defense.
Develops Reflexes
Especially when it is spiked, the volleyball will be moving fast towards you. You will have to rely on and improve your reflexes so that you can react to the ball in the correct way and avoid being hit or injured.
Boosts Concentration
If you have a hard time concentrating, playing a sport like volleyball is a great way to help you learn how to focus better. Since there is only one ball in play, that gives you an object to focus on. With repetition in playing, you will be able to harness your abilities to focus for longer periods.
Reduces Stress
When you are stressed out, there is no better feeling than running, leaping, and giving a volleyball a hard smack. Volleyball is a great sport to help relieve stress.
Since this is a ball contact sport you are able to transfer your stress into the ball. Channel your frustrations into each bump or set, then let out a full blast with a spike. The added exercise is also a great way to help get it all out, so that when you walk off the court you are smiling and tired.
Promotes Better Sleep
Playing for a couple of hours is a great way to really exercise your body. No matter what time of day you play, the added workout you’ve given yourself and the potential stress relieving will make it easier for you to sleep at night.
Social Health Benefits of Volleyball
| Feature | Benefit |
|---|---|
| Allows you to meet new people | Improves your social skills |
| Forces you to work on your decision-making | Helps you have a quick decision-making |
| Develops your communication skills | Develops your social skills |
| Helps you to anticipate others | Develops your pattern-recognition skills |
Offers a Great Way to Meet People
Whether you join a pick up game, a recreational league, or your local school’s team, chances are you won’t always know everyone that walks on the court with you. This makes playing volleyball a great social sport to meet new people. Also, since you rotate, it will place you in contact with almost everyone on the court at one time or another.
Helps You Take Charge
In volleyball, once the ball comes over the net someone has to get it.
- If you are the setter, you will call for the second hit and receive the ball
- If you are not the setter and the ball is coming close by you, then you will want to take command and take the ball.
The varying gameplay change requires you to make quick decisions, whether you will stand down or call out for the ball. When you call out for the hit, and make a good play, this will build your confidence and help you to start taking more charge on and off the court.
Boosts Communication
Volleyball is not a quiet game. If you are on the court, you need to be talking. You will either be commentating on the other team’s hits, letting your teammates know if they are going to spike or bump it over. You will be calling for the ball if you are going to hit it and you will be calling for help if you can’t make the play.
On the court you will not be quiet. If you are, then you are not being helpful to your team and could be called out on it. This good communication trait can transfer over to your real life. It can help you to be more outspoken and clearer with the people you interact with on a daily basis.
Helps You Rely on Others
Volleyball cannot be played by one person alone. When you are on the court, you learn how to rely on other players. You will also become more intuitive on how a specific person plays, so you know where to be in order to help them or to be set up by them.
To be a part of a well working team helps you learn how to rely on other people to get a job done. This is a great team building exercise to help a new group of people learn how to communicate and work together.
Builds Anticipation
Once you have been playing volleyball with the same group of people, you will learn how to anticipate how they react and how the ball moves. Not all players are going to be great, there will be weaker players on the team that may need a helping hand at times or may hit a wild ball.
Learning how to anticipate the outcome on the court will transfer into your daily life. This can help you see signs of a great moment or a weak foothold. You learn to anticipate and how to handle the situation when it is your turn to take the ball in your hands and score.
Related Questions
Here are some frequently asked questions about volleyball health benefits.
Why Does Volleyball Relieve Stress?
All physical activities can help you relieve stress. Therefore, since volleyball is a very active and energetic sport, it can help to relieve stress. In this sport, you need to jump, sprint, hit, change directions, and be in constant movement. All of this helps your body to relieve stress.
Does Volleyball Give You a Nice Body?
If played constantly, volleyball does work out your body, strengthening it and making it look more defined. In this sport you need to jump a lot, more than you need to in basketball, therefore, this activity can work out your lower body.
On top of that, since you need to constantly strike, volley, and pass the ball, your upper body will be worked out too. Lastly, all of these movements need stability, which is why you will be using your core, making your abs more defined.
Does Volleyball Give You Abs?
Yes, if you play volleyball on a regular basis, your abs can develop over time. This is because, when hitting the ball mid-air, you need stability, which is provided by the muscles in your abdomen. Therefore, if you do this every day, your abs will get defined.
Conclusion
It doesn’t matter if you play regularly or just a pick up game once a month. These benefits are going to help improve your overall health each time you step onto the court.
