You may have heard that experts recommend 150 minutes of moderate physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise each week for adults.
Swimming is a great way to work out your entire body and cardiovascular system.
An hour of swimming burns almost as many calories as running, but without all the effects on your bones and joints.
Swimming is the fourth most popular activity in the United States. But for what exact reason?
There are many benefits to swimming regularly. Read on to learn the benefits of swimming and how to incorporate swimming into your routine.
Benefits
1. Exercises your whole body
One of the biggest benefits of swimming with Lifeguard Class is that it really works your whole body, from the top to the nails. The swimming:
increases your heart rate without straining your body
stimulates the muscles
builds strength
enhances endurance
There are several moves you can use to add variety to your swim, such as:
front
backstroke
side swimming
butterfly
free style
Each focuses on different muscle groups and water provides a mild resistance.
Whichever swimming style you choose, you use most muscle groups to move your body in the water.
2. It also trains your body systems
As long as your muscles are exercising properly, your cardiovascular system is also exercising.
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Swimming strengthens your heart and lungs.
Swimming is so good for you that researchers say it can even reduce the risk of death.
Compared to inactive people, swimmers run about half the risk of death.
Some other studies have shown that swimming can help lower blood pressure and control blood sugar.
3. It is suitable for people with injuries, arthritis and other diseases.
Swimming can be a safe exercise option for people with:
arthritis
injury
disability
other problems that make high-intensity exercise difficult
Swimming can even help reduce some of the pain or speed up your recovery from an injury.
One study found that people with osteoarthritis reported significant reductions in joint pain and stiffness and experienced fewer physical limitations after engaging in activities such as swimming and cycling.
Even more interesting is that there was no difference in benefits between the two groups.
Thus, swimming seems to have similar benefits to regular ground exercises.
4. Suitable choice for patients with asthma
The humid environment of the indoor pools makes swimming an excellent activity for people with asthma.
Not only that, but sport-related breathing exercises, such as holding your breath, can help you expand your lung capacity and gain complete control over your breathing.
Some studies show that swimming can increase the risk of asthma due to the chemicals used to clean swimming pools.
Talk to your doctor about the possible dangers of swimming if you have asthma and, if possible, look for a pool that uses salt water instead of chlorine.
5. Beneficial for people with multiple sclerosis
People with multiple sclerosis (MS) may also find swimming beneficial. Water makes the limbs float, helping them to support themselves during exercise.
Water also provides a mild resistance.
In one study, a 20-week swimming program resulted in a significant reduction in pain for people with multiple sclerosis.
These people also showed improvement in symptoms such as fatigue, depression and difficulty moving.
6. Burns calories
Swimming is an effective way to burn calories.
A person weighing 80 kg burns about 423 calories per hour by swimming at a low or moderate pace.
The same person can burn up to 715 calories per hour by swimming at a faster pace.
A 100 kg person doing the same activities will burn between 528 and 892 calories per hour.
A 120 kg person can burn between 632 and 1,068 calories.
To compare these numbers to other popular low-load exercises, the same 80-pound person would burn just about 314 calories by walking at 6 miles per hour for 60 minutes.
Yoga can burn just 183 calories per hour. And the elliptical bike can burn just 365 calories at this time.
7. Improves your sleep
Swimming can have the ability to help you sleep better at night.
In a study in elderly adults with insomnia, participants reported both an improvement in quality of life and sleep after regular aerobic exercise.
Almost 50% of older people experience some form of insomnia and therefore this is great news.
The study focused on all types of aerobic exercise, including elliptical exercise, Stairmaster, cycling, swimming, and exercise videos.
Swimming is accessible to a wide range of people with physical problems that make other exercises, such as running, less attractive.
This can make swimming a good choice for older adults who want to improve their sleep.
8. Stimulates your mood
Her researchers evaluated a small group of people with dementia and found that their mood improved after participating in a 12-week program of water sports.
Swimming and exercising in the water are not only psychologically beneficial for people with dementia.
Exercise has been shown to boost mood in other people as well.
9. Helps manage stress
The researchers examined a group of swimmers just before and after swimming in a gym in the Taiwanese city of New Taipei.
Of the 101 people surveyed, 44 reported having mild depression and experiencing fast-paced anxiety.
After swimming, the number of people who reported still feeling anxious dropped to just eight.
Although more research needs to be done in this area, researchers conclude that swimming is a potentially effective way to quickly relieve stress.
10. Safe during pregnancy
Pregnant women and their babies can also reap some wonderful benefits from swimming.
In an animal study, bathing a mother rat was shown to alter the brain development of her offspring.
It may even protect babies from a type of neurological problem called hypoxia-ischemia, but more research is needed.
In addition to the potential benefits to the baby, swimming is an activity that can be performed in all three trimesters of pregnancy.
Another study shows that swimming in chlorinated pools during pregnancy has no negative effects.
In fact, pregnant women who swam during their early to middle pregnancies had a lower risk of preterm birth and congenital anomalies.
11. Ideal for children
Children need at least 60 minutes of aerobic exercise each day. They do not have to feel like they are doing chores.
Swimming is a fun activity and does not necessarily look like a standard exercise.
Your child can either take organized swimming lessons or be part of a swimming team.
