El Marino Sports Club Canvasses Physical Fitness among Nigerians

Martins Ifijeh

Sequel to the fact that many young Nigerians are increasingly dying from cardiovascular diseases, members of El Marino Sports Club have emphasised the need for more Nigerians to embark on healthy lifestyle through sporting activities.

The Team Manager of the Lagos-based club, Otunba Seyi Adefarati, said the club, which is at the forefront of promoting physical fitness, engages members in weekly football and daily table tennis practice as well as regular exercises at the Centre for Management Development (CMD) in Lagos. He said the club was also set to execute its sport programmes in all the local government areas of Lagos State, starting from Ikosi-Isheri Local Council Development Area.

According to him, these were moves to encourage youths as well as adults to engage in sports and to create awareness on the benefits of being physically fit.

Adefarati affirmed that being physically fit helps to control a person’s weight, lowers risk of heart disease, reduces type-2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome, lowers risk of cancer, strengthens bones and muscles, enhances mental health and mood, improves a person’s ability to do daily activities and also increases the chance of living longer.

In view of this, the Team Captain of the Club, Mr. Chris Anazia, said the club’s activities were not limited to physical fitness, but includes promoting healthy lifestyle which was the habit and attitude that helps improve people’s health and well-being.

He said physical fitness keeps you fit, energetic and helps fight diseases, while good nutrition, exercise and rest are bedrock of healthy lifestyle. He further explained that physical fitness is the overall state of health and the ability to carry out physical exercise without much exertion of energy or force.

Corroborating him, Chairman, Board of Trustees, El Marino Sports Club, Mr. Ighomuaye Steve, said “to be physically fit, one also needs to be engaged in healthy lifestyle, and this has to do with the type of food a person eats to make the body system function properly.” He said the club would partake in awareness initiative for youths and would visit chairmen of all the local government councils in Lagos for collaboration on sporting programmes on a regular basis.

Furthermore, the Secretary General of the Club, Mr. Lokun Lawal, explained that the club consists of over 30 members with the least entry age of 28 and an average age of 44 that takes part in daily sporting activities and also organises football matches every two months.

He said being physically fit is not just about exercise alone but also involves healthy lifestyle, the food a person eats to build up the body and to make it able to withstand sicknesses.