How does playing competitive sports affect women's health?

The key to having a healthy life is having a balanced life. This includes balancing both work and life. Life refers to family relationships, your social life and time off from work. All work and no play make Jack a dull boy. Well, the truth is Jill likes to work hard and have fun too. Whether it is a competitive sport or a night out the town, the importance is to have a balance. Everything should be done in moderation.

Competitive sports are encouraged for both young boys and girls during their school going years. This is where the training starts. Beginning with inter-school competitions, to local community competitions, inter-state and national being the major leagues. Sports and talents are nurtured from a young age, especially for sports that need a special technique like gymnastics and competitive ballet. For such sports, starting young is crucial because by the time professionals reach the age of thirty, many of them are making a career change or retiring from the sport.

Women participate in a variety of sports that ranges from swimming to javelin. Fencing and professional basketball. There are some sports where women have done exceptionally well like tennis where Serena Williams has remained an icon and inspiration for many young women. More so, she has maintained her physical fitness and professionalism in the sport, while starting a family as well. While she has been forthcoming of the difficulties she has faced choosing to train rather than breastfeed, it is a realistic picture that she has painted. Women often have to make the sacrifices to prioritize career sometimes for a time to make the most of their peak season.

She remains a dedicated mother and tennis veteran who also encourages other women to play the sport while voicing unfair treatment for women in the sport. Like in any other competitive sport at the world stage, athletes have at a time or other abused drugs. This has affected their sports professional, with their medals being stripped away after being worn while using enhancement drugs. Excessive use of certain steroids can cause stroke and heart attack. Using steroids, like any substance drug opens up the risk for substance abuse including hard drugs.

Injuries in sports happen often, and sometimes determined athletes do not want to stop training. Instead, they opt for muscle relaxers and pain medication to deal with subsequent pain. This again leads to the possibility of abusing drugs by becoming addicted to pain medication. Unfortunately, this happens often. Both with athletes who have suffered injuries and patients suffering from chronic illnesses. Additionally, a career-threatening injury may lead athletes to become depressed.

The news of an injury that will limit their sports careers may lead athletes both male and female to seek solace from their problems in the wrong place. Some turn to the bottle and become alcoholics. The pain from an injury comes suddenly or gradually, and over time one needs a way to deal with the pain. While some may start physical therapy and tone down the training intensity, others opt for more unconventional ways of dealing with the problem.

Some sports like gymnastics put pressure on females to watch their weight and train to a severe extent. Some athletes are badly affected and take it too far. They either become bulimic or develop a different eating disorder. It also affects their mental health. Bulimia occurs as a result of poor self-esteem and feelings of inadequacy. Athletes and young girls alike resort to forcing themselves to vomit the food they have eaten for fear of gaining weight. Some become depressed from the constant stress and pressure associated with long hours of training.

Being an athlete needs a great amount of discipline to manage the stress of training and take it positively. With a goal in mind, and remaining focused and staying clean and honest in the competition despite the challenges.