Want a reason to skip the gym? Well, then head to the pool! Swimming provides your body with a number of health benefits and keeps you looking fit all year round.
Swimming is not only a fun way to hang out with your friends and cool down, but it is also a sport that is enjoyed by all ages. Don’t know how to swim? Don’t let the fear of swimming get in the way, there are many adults out there taking swimming lessons and building strong core muscles in the process.
Benefits of Swimming
If you’re looking for a way to kick-start your metabolism, or simply just want to tone your body, swimming is the solution you have been looking for.
1. Strengthens Core Muscles
Practicing your strokes in the pool requires you to use all your body’s muscles. While your upper body is in high gear, your legs are working hard to push you through the water as well.
Exercising your body in water is challenging, and it forces you to work harder on your lap in the pool than around the track.
2. Burns Calories
A good hour of swimming burns about 400 calories, provided you are pushing yourself and not just wading in the water. Not only do you burn calories during your workout but swimming leaves you burning calories long after you wipe yourself off.
Your metabolism is kicked into high gear and keeps the weight off in the process.
3. Helps with Exercise-Induced Asthma
Your breathing is challenged when you swim and forces you to develop stronger lungs and strengthens your overall breathing capacity. The moist air around you, while you swim, is a major factor in reducing symptoms of asthma.
4. Keeps Your Heart Happy
Swimming conditions your heart and strengthens it while you exercise. Your cardiovascular muscles are put to the test in a healthy way and your workout will actually serve in preventing cardiovascular disease in the future.
Having a strong heart will reduce the risk of a heart attack and can help prevent strokes.
5. Improves Flexibility
When you exercise in a heated pool, your muscles relax enabling them to stretch and increase in flexibility. The toxins you flush out in the process prevent muscle tightness and soreness that you would usually experience the day after the gym.
6. Prevents Injuries
Since you work out all your muscles when you swim, you strengthen the muscles that surround your joints. This is especially beneficial as we grow older because swimming makes your body stronger and improves balance.
By building stronger hips and having better balance, you are more likely to avoid slips and protect yourself from harmful injuries that can occur from falling.
7. Reduces Stress and Anxiety
If you’re looking for a way to relieve your stress, swimming will rescue your mind and boost relaxation. Practicing a regular swim routine can help in reducing stress and depression, in addition to improving your sleep.
Jump in the pool and take a few light laps, you deserve a good night’s rest.
8. Gentle on the Joints
Having injuries or soreness hampers our ability to take a workout class. Instead of taking an unnecessary break from exercise, jump in the pool instead.
Swimming is the best way to continue your strength training and maintain your exercise regime. A relaxing way to work out, you don’t have to use any equipment that will further aggravate your muscles, or strain your knees.
9. It’s Fun!
Call your friends, take some snacks, and make the pool a social spot. Everyone likes to take a dip in the pool. It’s a great way to keep your workouts regular and see your friends during a busy week.
Whether you’re a professional or just starting out, taking hearty laps around a pool gives you the full body workout you’ve been craving.
The content of this Website is for is for informational purposes only, is general in nature and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease, and does not constitute professional advice. The information on this Website should not be considered as complete and does not cover all diseases, ailments, physical conditions, or their treatment. You should consult with your physician before beginning any exercise, weight loss, or health care program and/or any of the beauty treatments.
References:
10 Reasons to Start Swimming Now! (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2018, from http://www.health.com/fitness/10-reasons-to-start-swimming
Kostich, A. (2003, April 02). 9 Good Reasons Why You Should Get in the Pool. Retrieved March 29, 2018, from https://www.active.com/swimming/articles/9-good-reasons-why-you-should-get-in-the-pool
Benefits of Swimming | 8 reasons you should be in the pool. (2017, January 05). Retrieved March 29, 2018, from http://www.swimming.org/justswim/8-benefits-of-swimming/
