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Association Between Racquet Sports Like Tennis and Badminton and Life Expectancy
Benefits of Interval Training, Directional Changes, and Social Interaction

Racket sports such as tennis and badminton have been found to have the strongest association with increased life expectancy.

The recent "Copenhagen City Heart Study," published in the international journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings, tracked a total of 8,577 Danish adults over 25 years. The results showed that people who enjoyed racket sports were linked to an expected lifespan nearly 10 years longer compared to those who did no exercise at all.

By type of exercise, tennis was associated with a 9.7-year longer life expectancy, and badminton with 6.2 years. This surpasses the gains seen in cycling (3.7 years), swimming (3.4 years), and running (3.2 years).

Tennis. Pixabay

A study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine also tracked more than 80,000 people over nine years. It found that those who played tennis had a 47% lower overall risk of death compared to those who did not exercise at all. This reduction is about 20 percentage points higher than swimming, which showed a 28% reduction in risk.

Experts explained, "Racket sports continually raise your heart rate, which effectively strengthens cardiorespiratory fitness. Even if you exercise for the same amount of time, you achieve greater intensity and cardiovascular stimulation compared to walking at a steady pace." Such repetition naturally becomes a form of high-intensity interval training.

Additionally, racket sports involve lateral movements, rushing forward, sudden stops, and quick changes of direction, rather than moving in just one direction. Through this process, multiple muscles that support the ankles, knees, and hips are trained together. This helps develop essential balance and fall-prevention abilities, which become increasingly important with age.

Furthermore, racket sports require players to read their opponent’s movements, predict the trajectory of the ball, and quickly decide how and where to respond. As this process is repeated, it can be expected to enhance concentration and reaction speed, naturally training the brain as well.

Lastly, racket sports always require an opponent, naturally fostering interaction with others. Such social connections are not only beneficial for cognitive health but can also be a factor in maintaining a consistent exercise routine.

However, both studies are observational and cannot prove causality. It cannot be definitively concluded that a specific type of exercise directly increases lifespan.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.