This Is Why Swimming Is Good for Your Health

18 Oct This Is Why Swimming Is Good for Your Health

Known by many as the perfect exercise, swimming is a beneficial activity that cuts across all ages between 19 and 64 years old. In the U.S., it’s the fourth most popular activity according to CDC. It could be easy, inexpensive, and you can go at your own pace. While it’s good for physical fitness, there are a lot more reasons why swimming is good for your health.

Health experts recommend that people between 19 and 64 years old should get 150 minutes of modest aerobic exercise every week. It’s, therefore, important to include strength training exercises in your routine to maintain strong and flexible muscles. This should continue for as long as you’re alive. Swimming is one of the activities that you may choose to give your body a thorough workout. 

Here are the main advantages of swimming:

Swimming Gives You a Complete Body Workout

Regular swimming can help you acquire muscle strength throughout your body. Unlike a runner who can build muscles around the legs, as a swimmer, you utilize more muscle groups as you move through the water. Your legs kick while your arms pull. Your back rotates and your stomach tightens to stabilize the core and power your legs. These happen simultaneously, making swimming a super aerobic exercise to give your body a total workout.

Swimming Is Good for Your General Wellbeing

If you’re struggling with developing a positive mental outlook, swimming is one way to achieve it. Professionals recommend at least 30 minutes of swimming, three times a week, together with a healthy, balanced diet. 

Do this and you’ll have a de-stressed and relaxed system. A regular swimming session can lower your stress level, reduce depression and anxiety, and even enhance your sleep pattern. To realize these benefits, you simply need a light swimming.

Swimming Builds Your Cardiovascular Strength

Cardiovascular exercise involves the circulatory system including the heart and lungs. Swimming can be a part of this exercise that delivers a thorough workout. Experts believe that the mortality rate among swimmers is two times lower than that of inactive people. One study also reveals that swimming can help lower blood pressure and regulate blood sugar levels.

Swimming Works for All Fitness Levels and Ages

While some fitness activities could be selective, especially for beginners and people with certain conditions, swimming fits all ages – it allows everyone to go at his or her own pace. Importantly, most pools have a designated area for beginners or those who would like to swim slowly. Swimming is good if you have injuries or other conditions such as arthritis. It can help reduce pain or assist with recovery from an injury. 

Swimming Is an Option for Asthmatic People

If you’re struggling with asthma, you can take a swimming session in an indoor pool. Besides, breathing exercises associated with swimming could help expand your lung capacity to gain control over your breathing. All the same, consult your doctor before you engage in swimming if you’re asthmatic. It’s also advisable to swim in pools with salt-treated water instead of chlorine-treated water. 

Swimming is one of the oldest sports with physical, mental, and therapeutic benefits. Our list might not be exhaustive, but it exposes why swimming is good for your health.