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.

There are psychological and physiological strategies Lifeguards should utilize to decrease boredom and increase vigilance. Many athletes, pilots, and long ­haul drivers already use these techniques effectively. More specifically, lifeguards should try to change positions or assignments at least every 30 minutes. In addition, moving frequently, mild exercise, working with a partner, cold water, and lowering ambient temperatures have proven to increase attention and concentration. Moderate increases in physical movement, respiration, and heart rate stimulate neurological pathways, which in turn improves attention, concentration, and vigilance. In short, research supports the view that an active and interactive lifeguard is more alert than a passive one. Lifeguards who continually sit rather than stand, walk, and otherwise move cannot maintain the same level of vigilance as those who are always in motion. The lifeguard who gets lifeguard training will sits stands and strolls while on duty, as required by the five­ minute scanning strategy ,and should be more alert physiologically and psychologically, provided she is well rested and not overly stimulated by other environmental factors. Perceptual Body Blindness For more than a quarter of a century, cognitive psychologists have been studying the phenomenon of perceptual blindness. Perceptual blindness can be simply explained as failing to detect the obvious in critical situations. Human beings are bad observers and poor monitors. We fail to see the most obvious things because although our eyes take in a tremendous amount of visual stimuli, very little of the data received by the eyes is actually encoded or recorded by our brains. Therefore we may see a lot but perceive very little, one reason humans are not infallible when it comes to drowning prevention and another reason why lifejackets are so important for non-swimmers. In essence, we as human beings see what we expect to see and what we want to see. That is why lifeguards and parents miss drowning victims: They don’t want or expect people to actually drown and die on their watch. This happens on the subconscious level and may be described as perceptual body blindness. Although there are many forms and causes of perceptual blindness, the results are the same—drowning due to a lack of perception. Being aware of this concept and expecting the unexpected may help lifeguards and parents alike who are providing surveillance around the water. Circadian Rhythms Human beings Just like animals and plants, have biological clocks that predict levels of alertness and fatigue, with both levels fluctuating and alternating throughout each day. Unfortunately, peak times for alertness do not often coincide with the busiest times of the day at the pool. In general, people are most alert in the early to midmorning hours and again in the later afternoon. Between noon and the early afternoon, most people experience increased fatigue and reduced alertness. This is not comforting for those who supervise and manage beach lifeguards because these times of fatigue most often occur when the beaches are the most crowded.

Lifeguard training agencies give lifeguards the knowledge and water skills they need to do their jobs effectively. But there is also a great need for strategies to prevent boredom and keep lifeguards alert, particularly when they are on duty for long periods. Vigilance in general is difficult for all human beings but particularly difficult for teenagers, and most lifeguards in this country are teenagers. Lifeguard surveys continually indicate that boredom is a lifeguard’s primary enemy. Although lifeguarding is an extremely important job and has many rewards, it can quickly become very tedious depending on the situation. Although crowded days can be stressful for lifeguards, at least their attention typically increases with the size of the crowd. Most lifeguards would agree that slow days are more of a problem, at least from the standpoint of attention and concentration than crowded days. On crowded days, however, more lifeguards are often necessary to visually cover the swimming area adequately. Invented Hypothesis Since the early 1900s, much has been researched and written about the optimal level of psychological and emotional arousal for physical and mental tasks. In 1908, the first illustrated how different levels of arousal predict performance. Stated, low levels of arousal and high levels of arousal lead to poor performance, while moderate levels of arousal lead to optimal performance in many endeavors. Low levels of arousal lead to poor performance through a lack of awareness and motivation, and high levels of arousal lead to panic and choking due to overloading, with potentially catastrophic results. Many areas including sports and medical training are sometimes referred to as the invented hypothesis. Regardless of the sport or profession, to maximize performance, a little bit of nervousness or arousal is desirable. On the contrary, too much or too little arousal hurts performance. Lifeguards have known this for decades: Slow days and busy days produce either bored or overloaded lifeguards, and moderately busy days are best for attention, concentration, and awareness. Most medical schools use the motto “See one, do one, teach one.” This refers to the competence and confidence levels of physicians performing vitally important medical procedures. Before being competent and confident in doing lifesaving procedures, particularly when time is of the essence, physicians should first see the procedure performed by another physician. Then after being further taught about the procedure, the physician may be ready to attempt the procedure on his own. However, the best medical educators truly believe that doctors become competent and confident in doing a procedure only after teaching it to other potential physicians. Lifeguards should be so lucky. Most often, the one and only time lifeguards perform a water rescue requiring resuscitation is their first and last. Lifeguards are expected, of course, to respond perfectly, professionally, and in a timely fashion, even though they have not had the opportunity to “see one, do one, teach one.”

Steps to become a lifeguard in the USA People looking to become a lifeguard in the USA are surely aiming for a promising career. There are many water parks, natural lakes, and swimming areas across the USA, creating a high demand for lifeguard services to protect swimmers. Saving the life of drowning people requires great skills so you don't lose your own while trying to save someone else's life. This is also the reason why certification is mandatory for everyone who wants to work as a lifeguard anywhere in the USA. The lifeguards only work during the day as people do not bathe at night due to the dangers involved. Due to these dangers, they have to close the bathing areas every night. As a lifeguard in the USA, you must spend most of your working hours people-watching around the pool or swimming area. On this page, you will learn how to become a lifeguard in the USA in a few steps that are very easy to do. This article also covers your prospects, estimated salary, and other things you need to know about the USA. Who is a lifeguard? A lifeguard is a person employed in bathing areas for the interest of bathers who have problems in a swimming pool, beach, water park, etc. They remove drowning swimmers from swimming areas and then provide first aid, CPR, or other emergency care. What do you need to become a lifeguard in USA? If you are finding answers to the question, "can anyone be a lifeguard in USA?", the answer is "NO". Without a doubt, you must meet many requirements before you can choose lifeguarding as your career in USA. These include:- Successful completion of university diploma education. Must have either certification, including Standard First Aid and CPR level C or Emergency First Aid with CPR-B certification . Bronze Medallion: Your current age must not be less than 13 years old. You can opt for the bronze star instead American Lifeguard Course – Your minimum age must be 15 years before you can take this course What are the job functions of lifeguards? The following are lifeguard job duties for swimmers, as well as their employers. Observe and direct all activities around a swimming area. Keep records of swimmers and report to superiors. Help people learn to swim. Act when there are emergencies in the bathing area. These include saving drowning people. Carry out first aid measures such as mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Monitor designated areas to identify potential hazards Provide details to swimmers about the set of laws, regulations and policies of the swimming area. Inform swimmers of possible risks before entering the pool, as well as when swimming Clean the bathroom area and maintain order Why is working as a lifeguard a good career in USA? There are many reasons why being a lifeguard is a rewarding career in USA. Below are some of them. Lifeguard services are in high demand in USA This makes it very easy to become a lifeguard in USA due to the availability of many job opportunities. There are significant prospects for first responders in USA. One reason is that USA has many swimming areas in its provinces and territories.