There’s a lot more to athletics than meets the eye. People often think of it as just running around jumping or throwing, but there’s actually so much more to it. If you’ve ever considered getting involved with athletics, now is the time, and Everyone Active is the place to do it. We are one of the UK’s largest operators of athletics tracks, with around 19 located all over the country.
What is Athletics?
Athletics is like a buffet of fitness delights. Whatever your taste, there’s something for you. From sprints that make your heart race to the strategic patience of long-distance runs, the explosive power of jumps, and the technical skill of throws, athletics is a smorgasbord of activities.
Sprints (100m, 200m, 400m)
Let’s start with the sprints – the drag races of human athleticism. Sprints are perfect for you if you’re all about speed and power. It’s about exploding off the line and giving it your all for those few seconds. Plus, the training is super-efficient for improving cardiovascular health, burning calories, and building lean muscle.
Middle and Long-Distance Runs (800m, 1500m, 5k, 10k, Marathon)
Crave a test of endurance and strategy? Then middle and long-distance might be your playground. This discipline isn’t just about enduring but also about tactical pacing, breathing control, and pushing your limits. It’s amazing for cardiovascular health and mental toughness.
Hurdles and Steeplechase
Now, for a dash of spice, we add hurdles and the steeplechase. These events mix speed with agility and coordination, challenging you to maintain pace while overcoming physical barriers. They’re brilliant for building flexibility, coordination, and mental focus.
Jumps (Long Jump, Triple Jump, High Jump, Pole Vault)
Feel like flying? The jumps are all about defying gravity. Whether it’s soaring through the air to cover distances or vaulting over bars, jumping disciplines improve your explosive strength, flexibility, and precision. Plus, they’re just plain fun – who doesn’t want to feel like they can fly?
Throws (Shot Put, Discus, Hammer, Javelin)
If you’re drawn to the idea of unleashing power, the throws await. These events test your ability to combine strength, technique, and balance to launch an object as far as possible. They’re excellent for building muscle, enhancing coordination, and developing focus.
Athletics is a great way to get fit and healthy
But what if you want to get in better shape? What if you want to be fitter, healthier, and more active? There are many ways of doing this, but one of the best things that you can do is start taking part in athletics.
- Athletics will help with weight management. This is because it will give your body more energy and make it burn fat faster than before.
- Athletics will improve your heart health by making it stronger over time. In addition, this can also help lower blood pressure levels which could lead to fewer strokes or heart attacks down the line as well as other diseases associated with poor circulation (such as varicose veins).
- Athletics improves bone density so that bones become stronger over time – which means they’ll be less likely break when something falls onto them!
It requires dedication and determination
Athletics requires dedication and determination. Some disciplines require teamwork, so you’ll have to work with your teammates to improve your skills . You can’t just show up to play once or twice — you need to train regularly.
As an athlete, you need to be able to make sacrifices for the good of the team. You might not always get what you want because the needs of others are more important than your own personal wants and needs. This is one way that athletics can benefit your mental health by teaching you how much it means for people from different backgrounds working together toward common goals.
Athletics can improve your overall performance in other sports
Athletics can improve your overall performance in other sports. If you play a sport, athletics will help you to improve your overall performance. For example, if you are a basketball player who wants to be able to go up for the ball without getting blocked by their opponent, then doing some form of steeplechase training will help you do that. This is because it improves your speed and agility as well as improving your endurance and coordination.
There are many benefits of doing athletics for non-athletic people such as:
- Improving flexibility
- Improving strength
It can teach you about sportsmanship and teamwork
Even if you’re not a team sport kind of person, being able to work together with others can be beneficial on many occasions. Athletics are one way for students to learn about teamwork. It’s important to work together as a team in athletics because it will teach you how important teamwork is for other things, such as schoolwork and getting along with your friends and family. The same principles apply when playing sports like basketball, hockey, cricket or football outside of school too!
Athletics can also teach you how to deal with losing gracefully. You might not win every game, but there’s always another day where you’ll get another chance at success!
Athletics helps develop your leadership skills
If you are looking to develop your leadership skills, athletics is a great place to start. Leadership skills are essential in many areas of life, including education and work. Leadership skills can be learned, developed and taught. Through athletic participation, you can learn how to lead others in a team setting while developing your leadership abilities at the same time.
Leadership is a quality that has been studied by psychologists and philosophers for centuries, but no one definition or theory of leadership has emerged as “the right way” or “the only way” for successful leaders to operate. There is no consensus about the traits that define a good leader either; traits such as courage and vision are often mentioned as characteristics necessary for effective leadership roles but there is little agreement on which traits make up what makes an effective leader overall
It gets you outside in the fresh air
Athletics gets you outside in the fresh air, away from your computer screen, and into a place where you can breathe freely. Fresh air has numerous benefits for your health such as:
- Improving lung capacity
- Reducing allergies
- Increasing energy levels (due to increased oxygen intake)
- Lowering blood pressure and heart rate (due to decreased stress levels)
Being active outdoors can also help you become stronger, healthier and more fit over time. Not only that but it is a great way to spend time with friends while learning new skills! Athletics helps build confidence by letting kids know what they are capable of achieving—even if that goal is simply walking around an entire block without stopping once!
Athletics improves mental health
The World Health Organization defines mental health as “a state of wellbeing in which every individual realises his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.” It’s important to remember that this definition isn’t just about feeling happy—it’s also about dealing with stress and other problems. In fact, you could say that it’s more about how you deal with bad things happening than how happy you feel overall.
So what does this have to do with athletics? Well first off, physical activity has been shown time and again to improve moods by releasing endorphins into the brain (the same chemicals released during sex). But even more importantly for those seeking a healthy mind state: exercise can be used as an outlet for stress management! You know those moments when your job gets stressful or your relationships aren’t going so well? Sports helps us get out these negative emotions.
Athletics encourages self-discipline
Self-discipline is a key to success. It’s a skill that can be developed, but it needs to be practiced. The best way to practice self-discipline is through athletics.
There are many benefits to being athletic, but the most important benefit is the ability to practice self-discipline. Self-discipline has been proven as a key factor for success in life and sports. People who have great self discipline tend to be happier, have more friends and partners, do better in school or college, achieve higher levels of success in their career or workplace, earn more money than other people without as much self discipline may do.
Athletics can teach you how to win and lose gracefully
In athletics, winning and losing are inevitable. It is important to learn how to lose gracefully so that you can win with dignity later on. A good athlete knows when a game is over, but it takes time and practice to learn how to accept defeat in a healthy way. This skill will benefit you throughout your life as a competitive person because you will be able to accept failure more quickly and constructively than someone who has never had their feelings hurt by losing at anything before.
Learning athletics skills at a young age will be beneficial for the rest of your life
The benefits of participating in athletics as a child include:
- Learning how to play a sport and making friends with others who are also interested in sports, so you can enjoy exercising together when you’re older.
- Learning about your body and how it works by getting fit at an early age. This means that if something goes wrong with your body later on in life (for example, if you get injured), then this knowledge may help prevent further injuries from occurring again.
Learning athletics skills at a young age will be beneficial for the rest of your life. There are so many benefits to athletics that it would be hard to list them all here. The best thing to do is just start by giving it a try!
We offer a number of athletics facilities at our leisure centres, including indoor gyms to help with winter training programmes. To find out what is on offer at your nearest centre, click here. You can also get started in athletics by joining a club.