If there is one more exercise that gets all the raves next to walking, it would be swimming. Not only is it a fun exercise and sport, it reportedly benefits a person’s body as well as his holistic health. It is also commended as a healthy activity that one can continue over a lifetime, no matter how old a person gets. Experts also believe that the benefits that swimming gives a person for his lifetime make it very worth the effort it takes anyone to make it to a swimming pool.
But what exactly makes swimming stand out, especially as far as fitness-enriching exercises go? What makes it preferable over almost every other type of exercise?
1. Swimming works virtually all of the muscles in a person’s body. While this would generally be applicable for serious swimmers who use a variety of strokes, even beginners who start to do laps will find that their whole body is moving. It doesn’t just work the legs or the arms, it also helps develop shoulders and hips. Every part of your body that is submerged in the water will work with some effort against the pressure of the water, and you can be assured it will have tangible benefits for your muscles when done often enough.
2. It helps develop a person’s cardiovascular endurance and fitness, as well as strength. Indeed, swimming laps is no laughing matter, and a person’s cardiovascular endurance really gets developed. Nobody can expect to do a full lap without having some level of fitness as far as his heart and lungs go. Many experts recommend swimming to serve as a cross-training element for their regular workouts. Others use the pool before doing dryland workouts, as a form of warm-up. A person can choose to swim with increasing effort in order to increase his heart rate gradually. Muscle-activity is also greatly stimulated in the water. Some people also choose to swim a few laps after a land workout in order to cool down, as it helps move blood through the muscles to aid in their recovery, and it also helps them relax.
3. It gives very little joint strain while still exercising the important body organs. Swimming does not hurt as much as running or other high-intensity workouts. The buoyancy that water provides helps to keep a person’s weight off of his feet, giving him a chance to exercise without strain on his feet. This is why many experts recommend water-based exercises, even if it is not necessarily swimming many laps back and forth, for severely obese persons and pregnant women. A person’s lungs, heart, and muscles, will get their share of the workout without causing much strain on the joints, giving him or her the chance to concentrate on the movement instead of the pain.
4. Swimming burns a lot of calories. The estimate is at 3 calories per mile for every pound of the person’s bodyweight. Of course, majority of swimmers do not generally swim consistently over an hour, except for ones who train professionally, so it may not be as easy to calculate calories burned for the given swimming session. Interestingly, though, as one’s muscles become leaner from regular swimming, it may be safe to assume that the calorie-burning would continue even long after you have left the water.
5. Swimming also brings psychological benefits by allowing the person to relax in the water. This is because swimming gives the person a chance to let his mind wander and simply focus on nothing except for the rhythm of his swimming stoke. Many people attest to feeling more relaxed after being in the water, and science attempts to explain that as being caused by the relaxing effect of negative ions in moving water. After a particularly stressful week, you will find that jumping in the pool whether to do laps or just swim around a bit can do wonders for your wound-up emotions.
From these benefits, you will likely find that swimming is a great exercise to add to your regular routine. The best part is, it is generally fun to do whether by yourself or in a group that it will not even feel like a sacrifice or a painful commitment to fitness!
