Swimming is one of the best exercises you can get involved in and it’s often times underrated. It has a lot of health and wellness benefits which are often times overrated. However, below you’ll find a list of reasons as to why swimming might be more beneficial than you might have first thought.
1. Muscle Toning
One of the biggest advantages of swimming comes from the fact that water is much denser than air is. When you work out on land, you don’t get the same resistance that you would while swimming. When you go for a swim, your muscles have to work harder to fight the water’s resistance which helps your muscles develop and tone up.
2. Weight Management
Swimming for just about 30 minutes will help you burn almost 400 calories depending on your intensity and weight. This definitely beats speed walking which burns about almost 100 calories, cycling which burns also 250 calories, and even jogging which burns just under 300 calories over the span of 30 minutes. You can get more information on how many calories you can burn by swimming here at Swimming.org.
3. Low Impact on Joints
When you go for a swim, 90% of your body is held up by the water’s buoyant force. As a result, there is much less strain put on your body’s joints which also makes swimming one of the best workouts for those with arthritis and joint pain.
4. Stress Management and Mood Improvement
A study by Speedo, a swimwear brand, states that swimming is the perfect exercise to help you reduce stress. The study which surveyed over 4000 swimmers came up with the following conclusions:
- 74% of the swimmers agreed that swimming helps them release tension.
- 68% stated that swimming was the ideal exercise to make them feel good about themselves.
- 70% stated that swimming contributes to helping them feel more refreshed mentally.
5. Healthy for your heart
When you’re swimming, the surrounding water exerts a certain pressure on your body. This pressure helps your heart with circulating blood throughout your body. As a result, swimming can reduce the demand on your heart by as much as 17 beats per minute or 13% in comparison to exercising on land.
6. Lower Blood Pressure and Cholesterol
Swimming for 30 minutes at least three times a week as been proven to significantly lower your blood pressure. In fact, one study has proven that after 10 weeks of regular swimming, you can lower your resting heart rate considerably. Moreover, swimming for 30 minutes to an hour also helps to reduce the levels of bad cholesterol (LDL) in your blood while raising the levels of good cholesterol (HDL).
7. You’ll Sleep Better
In 2013, the National Sleep Foundation did a study on those who did various types of vigorous exercises. Those who were actively involved in physical activities such as swimming were much more likely to report having a good night’s sleep every night. Moreover, over two-thirds of those involved in vigorous exercise rarely ever had symptoms related to insomnia such as struggling to fall asleep or waking up too early.
As you can see, swimming has a lot of great advantages and especially with today’s stressful lifestyle, these advantages will have a bigger impact on your overall health. So what are you waiting for? Get out there visit a pool, and change your lifestyle.
