Swimming is a popular activity to improve your health and fitness levels. It helps you burn a lot of calories, supports your weight, is easy on your joints, improves cardiovascular fitness, builds endurance and muscular strength, refreshes you in the summer season and keeps you cool. In this post, we discuss some of the key health benefits of swimming, and how to get started with this excellent workout activity.
Low Impact
When you swim, there’s no ground impact. Thus, you’re able to protect your joints from strain and stress. In fact, many healthcare experts recommend water activities and swimming. For this purpose, water aerobics classes are also recommended. Even when you hit the pool’s bottom and jump in the pool, you don’t need to exert a lot of force. This is in contrast to running, in which the impact on your knee and ankle joints can lead to injury over time.
Builds Cardiorespiratory Fitness
Swimming can improve your stamina and endurance. According to a study conducted on middle-aged women and men who participated in swim training for 12 weeks, oxygen consumption improved about 10%, and stroke volume improved about 18%, Cardiovascular fitness has huge benefits in everyday life and in improving general energy levels throughout the day.
Builds Muscle Mass
According to a study involving women and men who completed an 8 week training program, there was about 25% increase in tricep muscle mass. It’s important to understand that if you don’t already perform resistance exercises and choose to swim, you can get more toned and gain muscle mass. Also, in contrast to running and cycling, swimming is a full-body workout, so your upper and lower body will end up toned and fit.
Burns Calories
There’s no doubt that swimming on a regular basis allows you to burn more calories. With water aerobic activities, you’re able to boost your metabolism and burn more fat thanks to the added resistance of moving through water. This is the primary reason that water activities are an important part of many training programs in health clubs.
Getting Started with Swimming
In order to improve your health and fitness, you can include swimming in your workout regime. However, when you don’t know how to swim, it’s important to hire a qualified swim instructor. A professional instructor should have some kind of certification.
Most adults need to focus on one hour training sessions in the beginning. However, this may vary on the basis of your fitness and health levels When you start with your training, you can expect to learn some basic stroke and breathing techniques. Over time, the instructor will integrate all the lessons to make you feel more comfortable. You may start working on your strokes in the shallow end of the pool.
For those who already know how to swim, it’s best to start small and build up a habit. If you’re not used to exercising, even just doing a few laps a day can be an exhausting workout. Start slow, and make incremental improvements. Keep safety first while swimming, especially in areas with deep water, ocean currents, or where you are alone.
