For many people, the thought of exercise brings feelings of boredom, pain or frustration. And, if you’re struggling with excess weight, a commitment to exercise might even seem very difficult or discouraging.
Few people, though, consider the one-of-a-kind benefits of swimming when it comes to losing weight and improving health. Hitting the water is an excellent exercise to help you achieve your fitness goals, and it shouldn’t be overlooked when creating a workout plan! Below, we provide some of swimming’s greatest benefits and what they can mean for your body – AND your health!
Advantages of Swimming – Get Healthy, Get Happy!
- Build Resistance – Moving around in the water creates a drag around your body, thus building resistance. Using resistance to your advantage while you exercise provides a great metabolic benefit! It’s also good for building your muscles and training them to perform.
- Work Out Your Entire Body – This powerful exercise combines both your lower and upper body at the same time, making it a total body workout! This makes swimming a wonderful cardiovascular activity as it uses large muscle groups and increases your heart rate. As a result, body temperature increases and more calories are burned.
- Build Your Core and Improve Balance – Performing movement in the water requires balance, which you build over time as you make swimming a regular part of your workout routine. The repetition of strokes (such as when you’re doing laps) will build your overall endurance as you strengthen and tone your muscles.
- Stay Safe With Low-Impact Movement – Swimming is a low-impact exercise, which means it’s easy on your joints and muscles. As opposed to other exercises such as jogging, it’s a non-weight bearing form of movement. This is especially convenient for those carrying excess weight who find it hard to put a lot of pressure and strain on their muscles and joints.
- Improve Mobility – Moving through the water is a great way to stretch your muscles and improve mobility because you have less weight pulling you down. Your range of motion while swimming is also a lot greater!
- Boost Your Vitals – When you make swimming a regular part of your exercise routine, you’ll notice many changes to your body and overall health. For example, you’ll reduce your risk of stroke, heart disease and diabetes while increasing your good cholesterol and lowering blood pressure.
- Have FUN – Most of all, swimming is fun! Getting off land and into the water is a great break from your usual routine. You can swim at the pool inside your gym or community center or in the privacy of your own home. You can also venture out to a lake or to the beach! There’s plenty of ways to add variety and switch up your exercises – just let go, let loose and keep swimming!
Want to learn more about swimming as an exercise? For more information on the health benefits of swimming, tips for your routine, interval training and more, visit the full article from Your Weight Matters Magazine by CLICKING HERE.
