Sport in Argentina
- It helps to break down prejudices, stereotypes and cultural differences
- It encourages dialogue and solidarity
- It helps to develop healthy habits
- It contributes to improving self-esteem and self-concept
- It helps to learn social rules and individual roles
- It helps to develop values such as respect and cooperation
- It can help to improve mental and physical health
- It can help people achieve things they didn’t think they were capable of before
Argentina’s National Social Sports Plan seeks to democratise access to sport, regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, level of physical fitness or socio-economic group.
Some of the physiological effects of sport are:
- Strengthening of the bones: Increases bone density
- Improved lung function: Exercise helps the lungs work better
- Improved cardiovascular system: Exercise sends oxygen and nutrients to the tissues, which helps the heart work better
- Reduced risk of cardiovascular disease: Exercise reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, such as heart attack
- Control of blood glucose: Exercise helps to control blood glucose levels
- Reduction of blood pressure: Exercise can help to reduce high blood pressure
- Improvement of mood: Exercise increases endorphin levels, which are chemicals that relieve pain and improve mood
- Improved functional capacity: Exercise improves the functional capacity of older people, helping to prevent falls and fractures
Sport can help reduce work-related stress, as it releases endorphins that improve mood. It can also help improve concentration, productivity and self-esteem.
Some of the benefits of sport in the workplace:
- Reduction of stress: Exercise helps to release irritability and reduce stress levels.
- Better concentration: Exercise increases blood flow to the brain, which improves oxygenation.
- Higher productivity: Exercise helps to release endorphins, which improves mood and concentration.
- Improved self-esteem: By achieving goals in sport, we feel satisfied and capable of handling any situation.
- Better adaptation to stressful situations: Sport helps us to adapt better to stressful situations.
- Better capacity for action: Exercise helps us to act quickly, so we respond faster to challenges.
- Better memory and sleep: Sport helps improve memory and sleep.
In Argentina, companies have yet to encourage employees to do sport and provide spaces within buildings for relaxation activities, such as yoga, gyms or art spaces.
In Spain, these dynamics were implemented in workspaces with nutritional talks, fruit on work floors and healthy cooking courses. Personally, I continue my development outside of Telefónica as a professional basketball coach in Argentina.
