The Social Benefits of Exercise

Developing social skills is a very important part of life. As a child we learn to share, we learn right from wrong and we learn empathy with others. Sports and exercise is a great way to develop good social skills.

How does exercise develop social skills?

People skills - Sports and exercise teaches us to play, share and get along with other people. This is a very important part of growing up. It is always important to treat other people, on and off the pitch, how you would like to be treated.

Learning to win and lose - Winning and losing is a very important part of life. We don't always win and we don't always lose. Sport and exercise is a great way of learning 'good sportsmanship'. Sportsmanship is all about how we treat others when we win or lose. We should always try to 'be a good sport'. For example; if we win we say 'hard luck' or if we lose we say 'well done'.

Making friends - Friends are the people who you can trust and will be there for you when you need them. Sport and exercise is a great way to meet new people and make new friends, as you will usually be surrounded with people of similar interests to you.

Communication skills - Team sports are a great way of developing communication skills; both verbal and non-verbal. This is because when you play in a team, you have to talk and listen to other people.

Team work - Being involved in a team is a great way of learning how to work with other people. A team is only successful when they work together. If everyone does what they want, regardless of how it affects the team, it won't be successful.

It's not what we say, it's how we say it that matters!

So everyday, our actions towards other people and the way we speak to them will shape their opinion of us.

Tone of voice - This is the way we speak to people. It shows things like respect, courtesy and good manners. For example; you should always say 'please' and 'thank you' if you want or get something. The way we speak to people is important and can leave a lasting impression.

Non-verbal communication - These are things like our body language, eye contact, expressions, gestures, posture and actions. They make up the majority of our everyday communication. An example of good non-verbal communication would be, making eye contact with someone you are are talking with. This shows you are listening and taking part in the conversation.