It is estimated that 2,500.000 Spaniards could be sportslovers.
They dedicate more than 6 hours per week to sport-for them, practicing sport it is a true lifestyle.
The protection of their immune and joint systems is key to keep them on the move.
Studies carried out by BIOIBERICA have revealed the existence and the growing trend of a new social phenomenon. It is the sportlover. An estimation of 2,500.000 persons in our country could be sportslovers.
Sportslovers are persons practicing sports in a non-professional, albeit intense way. They are a growing group of sportspersons who, until very recently, were labeled as “aficionados” or “amateurs”. However, unlike amateurs, sportslovers see sport practice as a true lifestyle. However, sportslovers do not put aside their daily work or family duties, nor their friends-it is sports what gives them perfect balance. They train almost every day (more than 6 hours per week) on their own or with their group of friends. They can practice swimming, cycling, or run. They might do it anytime during the day: very early in the morning, at lunchtime, or before supper. They need to practice sport to feel good. Sportlovers favor sports which require great exertions, such as triathlons, ultratrails, marathons, etc. They prefer intense physical activity, sometime extreme, which force them to find their own limitations, and to overcome them. Neither daily job nor familial duties can make them to sport practicing sport. Sportslovers are known for carefully husbanding leisure time to practice sports, as well as for involving relatives and friends in their sporting adventures.
Clear evidence of this new social phenomena are the increase in the non-professional participants in international races such as the Marathon des Sables, the Iron Man, the Titan Desert or the New York Marathon (Spaniards are the ninth most numerous nationality in the latter competition), as well as the birth of new challenges such as the Gran Canaria Ultra Trail Gran Challenge.
These new supermen of the 21st century, who practice sport intensively and regularly, might compromise its immune system (physical or psychological overexertion decreases the concentration levels of lymphocytes in blood), or its joint system (by subjecting their musculoskeletal system to great stress, because of overuse of because of constant impacts). To keep them on the move, they need, like professional athletes, a correct diet, proper training schedules and preventing possible injuries by means of nutritional complements to help keep their joints in good working order. This is the key to prevent the practice of their favorite sport(s) from damaging their health.
