- -Have weight loss goals?
- -Go swimming.
- -Need to relax?
- -Take a dip into the pool or nearby lake.
Swimming is the best way to work out, not only because it’s extremely fun but also because it challenges your mental and physical health by bringing you into a new element. The effects of the sport on your body are quite amazing; where it improves your cardiovascular health and metabolism. You can also monitor your condition with the help of a professional before and after you have made the sport a regular part of your life, and you will see an immense change. Ready to dive into the benefits of swimming for your mental and physical health?
1. Full-Body Workout
While swimming you are engaging your whole body. It’s not just your abs, arms or legs that you are working on. Whether it’s freestyle or breaststroke, you are using all your limbs to get across the water where the water pressure forms a healthy barrier, and you need to work your body to move forward. Instead of lifting heavy weights or doing large movements like during cardio exercises, you are allowing the water to do most of the work for you by moving your limbs against the pressure exerted by the liquid. Plus, the gravity factor is another thing that keeps you from feeling exhausted during the exercise, which makes it more enjoyable and allows you to keep swimming longer than you would during the exercises.
2. Low-Impact Exercise for Joint Health
If you are someone who is just getting into workout, swimming might prove to be a great option to start with. This is because it’s quite low impact and easy on the joints, where people with injuries, arthritis or muscle stiffness find it pretty soothing to their conditions, as they can move around their muscles without inflaming their joints. The water buoyancy helps a lot in this matter, allowing you to take things at your own pace rather than with other exercises such as running or weightlifting.
3. Improves Cardiovascular Fitness
Swimming also helps you improve your lung capacity thereby improving your heart rates and blood circulation. This allows the heart to pump blood around more efficiently than if you weren’t swimming while scaling up the oxygen concentration in your muscle groups, making them stronger. An improved cardiovascular health means that you are at a lower risk of developing coronary heart disease or strokes that may result in paralysis or even prove fatal. The fact that it is low impact makes it great for middle-aged people who suffer from higher blood pressure due to the natural effect of water on the mammalian body, which responds to the fluid with a near-instant drop in blood pressure. Regular swimming can lower your blood pressure and bring it down to normal while improving your heart rate.
4. Burns Calories Efficiently
Swimming is extremely efficient when it comes to burning calories. You can burn up to 500 calories in just half an hour of light swimming without making much extra effort. However, you should put in that extra effort, especially if your goal is weight loss, as faster swimming will increase your heart rate, thereby resulting in more burnt calories during that same period. The activity is also said to be more effective than other kinds of sports like running, in burning fat and reducing weight. So, if you are looking forward to toning up this summer, then swimming might be your best bet to burn fat while keeping yourself cool.
5. Enhancing Flexibility
When you are moving your limbs against the water, you are using muscles you don’t usually use, as the pressure applied by the water also allows your muscles to stretch while making them more flexible. This is mainly by engaging the whole body in the movements you perform which also improves coordination.
6. Reduces Stress and Anxiety
The drop in blood pressure when you enter water is also related to the calming effect, allowing you to calm down. Besides that, swimming also increases endorphin levels, aka the “happy” hormones, which also reduce pain, along with dopamines and serotonin, giving your mood a boost, especially when you are feeling low. It not only increases these mood boosters but also cuts down on cortisol levels, which is known as the stress hormone that reduces protein by converting it into sugar, in turn causing spikes in blood sugar.
7. Improves Sleep Quality
Stress can keep you awake for long hours at night. However, even if you may be experiencing stressful situations in life, you need to keep your mental health in check in order to keep your physical condition optimum, a goal that becomes easily attainable with the help of regular swimming. By reducing stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol through swimming, you are not only sleeping longer but also better, which allows your brain to rejuvenate while resting.
8. Boosts Mental Focus and Confidence
Apart from giving you the confidence to attend pool parties, swimming can grow your friend’s circle and even give you a sense of accomplishment since it is a skill that many people are still hesitant to learn due to fear. Studies have shown swimming also results in an increased brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF, that improves your cognitive skills and focus due to the release of exerkines, increased neuronal activity and cerebral blood flow, making you sharper and more alert.
9. Strengthens the Immune System
Swimming can give your immune system a boost by releasing endorphins and suppressing stress hormones which directly influence how your inner defense is performing. This is especially true if you are swimming in cold water which can shock the immune system, resulting in an increase in WBC counts, along with platelets and red blood cells.
10. Social and Recreational Benefits
If you don’t have friends who enjoy the activity as much as you do, try joining a club to grow the number of swimming pals on your contact list. At the same time, there is no pressure or anything wrong with enjoying a dip alone, where the solitary experience can be more relaxing than with peers.
The Final Thought
There aren’t many sports that allow you to have fun and fitness at the same time, except for swimming. Not only does it come with numerous physical benefits, where it tones up your muscles and improves your heart rate and immune system, but it also improves your mental health by a milestone. This is especially important since we don’t pay the psychological aspect enough attention. What’s your favorite thing about swimming? Don’t forget to share your experiences in the comments, below!
