Benefits of swimming for your health

The benefits of swimming are numerous, significant, and undeniable. Swimming can be beneficial to people across a broad range of ages and abilities: the very young to the very old, the very slow to the very fast, those with injuries or degenerative conditions, pregnant women, beginner to serious athletes, and fitness buffs. Swimming positively affects many aspects of life, including physical, mental, and emotional well-being. It's no wonder that physicians, physical therapists, exercise physiologists, and fitness coaches alike laud swimming as one of the best ways to stay in shape. Swimming also helps to get lifeguard training if you are good at swimming there are more possibilities to become a lifeguard.

Fitness Package:

Swimming is the ultimate all-in-one fitness package, working most muscles in the body in a variety of ways with every stroke. When strokes are performed correctly, the muscles lengthen and increase in flexibility. The significant repetition of strokes improves muscle endurance, and because water creates more resistance against the body than air does in land exercise, the muscles are strengthened and toned. Swimming also significantly enhances core strength, which is important to overall health and stability in everyday life. The hip, back, and abdominal muscles are crucial to moving through the water effectively and efficiently. Swimming builds these core muscles better than any abs video or gadget advertised on television. Finally, a properly structured swim workout provides incredible improvements to the cardiovascular system. The nature of breathing when swimming-with breath being somewhat limited in volume and frequency-promotes greater lung capacity and a consistent intake of oxygen. Both aerobic and anaerobic gains can be made in the same workout.

Improve other activities:

Compare all this to other activities, which offer benefits to only certain parts of the body or areas of fitness. Running increases cardiovascular fitness and tones the lower body. Rowing builds endurance and strength in both the upper body and lower body. Weightlifting tones or builds strength in the muscles targeted. Pilates and yoga improve core strength and flexibility. But the beauty of swimming is that it literally does all of the above in every single workout! When you're a swimmer, there's no need to choose each day whether you'll focus on your upper body or lower body, muscular strength or cardiovascular endurance, core strength or overall flexibility. Swimming also is easy on the body, as long as a proper warm-up and cool-down are incorporated into each session. The pounding the body takes during running, high-impact aerobics, basketball, tennis, and kickboxing is replaced by near weightlessness in the water. In short, consistent swimming tones the body, improves cardiovascular health, and lengthens the muscles, all without breaking down the body.