At the end another man came into the lane, we exchanged hello's and i watched him fiddle for a while with his snorkel and flippers while i stretched. He seemed a little perplexed as he asked if i was swimming some more, then went on to say he had not done swimming lessons before and could barely swim to the other end, this was one of his first few sessions to get swimming and to get fit, he looked to be in his early 30's. 'Good on you!' i told him and i really meant it. I remembered my pool trip 3 days ago when i started talking to a man who had a motorbike accident 6 weeks ago and he was getting back into swimming already, and i realised just how GOOD swimming is! I myself am swimming to keep fit while i cannot run with my torn plantar fascia in my foot, i would go crazy if i couldn't!
The thing is swimming is such a good total body workout, has minimal impact on your joints and is suitable for all fitness levels and all ages! You can swim for fun, swim for general fitness, swim for rehabilitation, swim to reach a goal such as a community swim (Busselton Jetty Swim or Rottnest swim for example!) it really is so flexible.
What are the benefits of swimming?
1: The Ability to Do More with Less
Swimming offers something no other aerobic exercise does: the ability to work your body without harsh impact to your skeletal system. Submerged in water, your body automatically becomes lighter. Immersed to the waist, your body bears just 50 percent of its weight; up to your chest reduces your weight to around 25 to 35 percent; with water all the way to the neck, you only have to bear 10 percent of your own weight. The other 90 percent is handled by the pool. This means that the pool provides an ideal place to work and strengthen stiff muscles and sore joints, especially if you're overweight or suffer from arthritis.
If the pool is heated, so much the better for arthritis sufferers, as the warm water can help loosen stiff joints. In fact, people with rheumatoid arthritis receive greater benefits to their health after participating in hydrotherapy than with other activities. It's also been proven that water-based exercise improves the use of affected joints and decreases pain from osteoarthritis.
2: Increased Muscle Tone and Strength
Ever see a flabby dolphin? I don't know about you but i haven't! That's because swimming is a great way to increase muscular strength and muscle tone -- especially compared to several other aerobic exercises.
If we look at running, when a jogger takes few laps around the track, that jogger is only moving his or her body through air. A swimmer, on the other hand, is propelling themselves through water which is about about twelve times as dense as air [source: Yeager]. That means that every kick and every arm stroke becomes a resistance exercise, the best way to build muscle tone and strength. But another bonus of a watery workout: Swimming has also been shown to improve bone strength, especially in post-menopausal women
3: Improved Flexibility
Exercise machines in a gym tend to isolate one body part at a time (like a bicep curl machine, for example), swimming puts the body through a broad range of motion that helps joints and ligaments stay loose and flexible. The arms move in wide arcs, the hips are engaged as the legs scissor through the water, and the head and spine twist from side to side. Plus, with every stroke, as you reach forward, you're lengthening the body, which not only makes it more efficient in the water, it also helps give you a good stretch from head to toe. Improve your flexibility even more by finishing a session with gentle stretches
4: A Healthier Heart
In addition to toning visible muscles like pectorals, triceps and quads, swimming also helps improve the most important muscle in our bodies... the heart. Because swimming is an aerobic exercise, it serves to strengthen the heart, not only helping it to become larger, but making it more efficient in pump blood around the body. Research also shows that aerobic exercise can combat the body's inflammatory response as well which is linked to heart disease. Furthermore, the American Heart Association reports that just 30 minutes of exercise per day, such as swimming, can reduce coronary heart disease in women by 30 to 40 percent and reduce blood pressure.
Exercise machines in a gym tend to isolate one body part at a time (like a bicep curl machine, for example), swimming puts the body through a broad range of motion that helps joints and ligaments stay loose and flexible. The arms move in wide arcs, the hips are engaged as the legs scissor through the water, and the head and spine twist from side to side. Plus, with every stroke, as you reach forward, you're lengthening the body, which not only makes it more efficient in the water, it also helps give you a good stretch from head to toe. Improve your flexibility even more by finishing a session with gentle stretches
4: A Healthier Heart
In addition to toning visible muscles like pectorals, triceps and quads, swimming also helps improve the most important muscle in our bodies... the heart. Because swimming is an aerobic exercise, it serves to strengthen the heart, not only helping it to become larger, but making it more efficient in pump blood around the body. Research also shows that aerobic exercise can combat the body's inflammatory response as well which is linked to heart disease. Furthermore, the American Heart Association reports that just 30 minutes of exercise per day, such as swimming, can reduce coronary heart disease in women by 30 to 40 percent and reduce blood pressure.
5: Weight Control
Swimming is now recognized as one of the biggest calorie burners around, and it's great for keeping weight under control. The number of calories you burn, depends on your own physiology and the intensity with which you exercise, but as a general rule for every 10 minutes of swimming:
Swimming is now recognized as one of the biggest calorie burners around, and it's great for keeping weight under control. The number of calories you burn, depends on your own physiology and the intensity with which you exercise, but as a general rule for every 10 minutes of swimming:
Breast stroke will burn 60 calories;
Backstroke torches 80;
Freestyle lights up 100; and
Butterfly stroke incinerates an impressive 150 calories! No wonder that one hurts.
To boost the calorie-burning component of swimming, consider using intervals in which you work your hardest for short bursts and then recover. One way to structure this kind of workout would be to swim 50m then rest for 10 seconds, then 100m with a 10-second rest, then 150m, all the way up to 300m with rests in between. When you reach 300m, reverse the pattern
6: Improved Asthma Symptoms
Unlike exercising in the often dry air of the gym, or contending with seasonal allergies or frigid winter air, swimming provides the chance to work out in moist air, which can help reduce exercise-induced asthma symptoms. Not only can pool workouts help you avoid asthma attacks if you're prone to them, some studies have shown that swimming can actually improve the condition overall. According to a study published in the scholarly journal, Respirology, when a group of kids completed a six-week swimming program, they saw improvements in symptom severity, snoring, mouth-breathing, and hospitalizations and emergency room visits [source: Science Daily]. What's more, the health benefits were still apparent a year after the swimming program had ended [source:Physorg].
PLUS even those without asthma could benefit from swimming, say the study's authors, as the exercise can increase lung volume and teach proper breathing techniques.
7: Improved Cholesterol
Being healthy is more about having the right ratio of cholesterol in your body than simply having low amounts in your blood. Specifically, it's beneficial to have higher levels of "good" cholesterol (HDL) and lower levels of LDL, or "bad" cholesterol. Swimming can get these levels in the right balance thanks to its aerobic power, which has been proven to raise HDL levels. And for every 1 percent increase in HDL cholesterol, the risk of dying from heart disease drops by 3.5 percent [source: Bobalik].
What's more, studies have shown that aerobic exercises like swimming can also keep your endothelium in good shape. This is the thin layer of cells that lines your arteries, and it tends to lose flexibility as you age. In one study of people in their sixties who participated in aerobic exercise, endothelium function was found to be equal to those 30 to 40 years younger! The theory is that because aerobic exercise causes arteries to expand and contract, it keeps them fit.
8: Reducing Diabetes
When it comes to warding off diabetes, there are few prescriptions as powerful as aerobic exercise. In one study, men reduced their risk of diabetes by an average of 6 percent for every 500 calories a week they burned in aerobic exercise [source: Bobalik]. With just 30 minutes of breaststroke swimming three times per week, you could burn 900 calories and reduce your risk of contracting type 2 diabetes by over 10 percent. A study that focused on women also suggested the same benefits: Vigorous exercise just once a week (like the kind derived from a robust swimming session) lowered their risk of contracting type 2 diabetes by 16 percent over inactive women [source:Bobalik].
If you already have type 1 diabetes, the aerobic benefits of swimming can be particularly helpful, as this type of exercise can increase insulin sensitivity [source: University of Maryland]. According to the American Diabetes Association, diabetics should get 150 minutes per week, spread across at least three days per week, of moderate-intensity physical activity like swimming to aid glycemic control.
9: Lower Stress, Higher Spirits and a Better Brain
William Wilson wrote in the 1883 book, "The Swimming Instructor":
To boost the calorie-burning component of swimming, consider using intervals in which you work your hardest for short bursts and then recover. One way to structure this kind of workout would be to swim 50m then rest for 10 seconds, then 100m with a 10-second rest, then 150m, all the way up to 300m with rests in between. When you reach 300m, reverse the pattern
6: Improved Asthma Symptoms
Unlike exercising in the often dry air of the gym, or contending with seasonal allergies or frigid winter air, swimming provides the chance to work out in moist air, which can help reduce exercise-induced asthma symptoms. Not only can pool workouts help you avoid asthma attacks if you're prone to them, some studies have shown that swimming can actually improve the condition overall. According to a study published in the scholarly journal, Respirology, when a group of kids completed a six-week swimming program, they saw improvements in symptom severity, snoring, mouth-breathing, and hospitalizations and emergency room visits [source: Science Daily]. What's more, the health benefits were still apparent a year after the swimming program had ended [source:Physorg].
PLUS even those without asthma could benefit from swimming, say the study's authors, as the exercise can increase lung volume and teach proper breathing techniques.
7: Improved Cholesterol
Being healthy is more about having the right ratio of cholesterol in your body than simply having low amounts in your blood. Specifically, it's beneficial to have higher levels of "good" cholesterol (HDL) and lower levels of LDL, or "bad" cholesterol. Swimming can get these levels in the right balance thanks to its aerobic power, which has been proven to raise HDL levels. And for every 1 percent increase in HDL cholesterol, the risk of dying from heart disease drops by 3.5 percent [source: Bobalik].
What's more, studies have shown that aerobic exercises like swimming can also keep your endothelium in good shape. This is the thin layer of cells that lines your arteries, and it tends to lose flexibility as you age. In one study of people in their sixties who participated in aerobic exercise, endothelium function was found to be equal to those 30 to 40 years younger! The theory is that because aerobic exercise causes arteries to expand and contract, it keeps them fit.
8: Reducing Diabetes
When it comes to warding off diabetes, there are few prescriptions as powerful as aerobic exercise. In one study, men reduced their risk of diabetes by an average of 6 percent for every 500 calories a week they burned in aerobic exercise [source: Bobalik]. With just 30 minutes of breaststroke swimming three times per week, you could burn 900 calories and reduce your risk of contracting type 2 diabetes by over 10 percent. A study that focused on women also suggested the same benefits: Vigorous exercise just once a week (like the kind derived from a robust swimming session) lowered their risk of contracting type 2 diabetes by 16 percent over inactive women [source:Bobalik].
If you already have type 1 diabetes, the aerobic benefits of swimming can be particularly helpful, as this type of exercise can increase insulin sensitivity [source: University of Maryland]. According to the American Diabetes Association, diabetics should get 150 minutes per week, spread across at least three days per week, of moderate-intensity physical activity like swimming to aid glycemic control.
9: Lower Stress, Higher Spirits and a Better Brain
William Wilson wrote in the 1883 book, "The Swimming Instructor":
"The experienced swimmer, when in the water, may be classed among the happiest of mortals in the happiest of moods, and in the most complete enjoyment of the happiest of exercises."
Wilson probably didn't know this in the 19th century, but all that happiness was likely due to the release of feel-good chemicals known as endorphins... one of swimming's (and exercise in general!) most pleasant side effects. In addition to a natural high, swimming can also evoke the relaxation response the same way yoga works on the body. This is due in large part to the constant stretching and relaxing of your muscles combined with deep rhythmic breathing. Swimming is also a meditative exercise, with the sound of your own breathing and the splash of the water acting as a mantra of sorts that can help you "drown out" all other distractions.
Aside from the metaphysical benefits of swimming, research has shown that it can actually change the brain for the better through a process known as hippocampal neurogenesis, in which the brain replaces cells lost through stress
10: You Just Might Live Longer
If the previous nine reasons weren't enough to convince you of the health benefits of swimming, perhaps this one will! Actually, we're not promising Aquaman-like immortality, but it seems that swimming can at least help you avoid dying prematurely. Researchers at the University of South Carolina followed 40,547 men, aged 20 to 90, for 32 years and discovered that those who swam had a 50 percent lower death rate than runners, walkers or men who got no exercise. The study authors concluded that the same benefits would be received by aqua-women as well as men.
Well i know i am swimming more since i cannot run but i can definitely relate to a few of these top 10 benefits and think i will keep swimming as a more regular part of my life! I will take the challenge ;)
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