Is there anything better than a sport in which you burn calories and work your entire body without sweating? Swimming is one of the most complete exercises you will find, and certainly one of the most refreshing.
In today’s article we will tell you one by one all its benefits so that you know why swimming can be the sport you were looking for to exercise and enjoy while doing it. Do you stay to find out?
Swimming: A Complete and Refreshing Sport
Is there anything better than taking a dip in the swimming pool when summer arrives and heat is installed everywhere? Swimming is one of the most complete exercises that exist and that works the different parts of our body. In addition, this aerobic exercise can be practiced with the intensity that best suits you, so there are no age limits to do it.
What parts will you work if you practice swimming? So from your abs, to your arms, legs, buttocks and especially the back.
If you already have access to a pool, whether it’s a gym or at home, equipment you will not need much, a swimsuit, a pair of glasses and a hat as much. If you are one of those who prefer to swim in lakes or in the sea you should be very careful with the currents of the water and its temperature.
Know the Swimming Modalities
Not everyone likes to swim in the same way, that’s why here we present the most common modalities of swimming so you can choose those that you like the most.
- Crawl. It is the best known style and the one that is usually taught in swimming courses. Its name comes from “crawl”, which would mean to crawl. It is also known as freestyle, and consists of placing in an upside down position, and moving both arms alternately while shaking the legs.
- Back. It is also known as back crawl, and in this case we will stand on our backs, shaking our arms alternately while moving our legs constantly.
- Butterfly. It is the most difficult style to learn because it demands high levels of strength and coordination. To put it into practice we must face up and shake the arms simultaneously, while coordinating with the movement of our legs, which will shake simulating a flutter, so that we form an “S” shape with our body.
- Fathom. With this style we place ourselves face down and perform movements with the arms and legs simultaneously and symmetrically.
What are the benefits of swimming?
Next we will see what are the benefits that the regular practice of swimming will bring to our health.
- Work your body without your bones suffer. We have all proven that we weigh less in water. Being lighter (if we are covered with water we weigh only 10% of our weight approximately), the pool is the ideal place to exercise without our muscles and joints suffering any danger, especially in those cases where there is overweight , suffer from arthritis or back pain , and also for pregnant women. In the case of people who have arthritis, it will still be better if we practice swimming in a heated pool, since the hot water will help our joints to loosen and stop being rigid.
- It is a sport for life. As swimming is a low impact exercise for our joints you will not have any problem to practice it no matter how old you are.
- You will gain strength, toning and strength. If you practice swimming, be sure that you will increase your muscular strength and tone your body. Swimming is a good resistance exercise, since the medium in which we exercise, the water, is much denser than the air, so it will cost more to exercise in it but we will gain strength and well-toned muscles. /ul>
- You will improve your flexibility. As we have already mentioned before, swimming is one of the most complete exercises there is, and unlike exercising in a gym machine where you only exercise a part of the body, swimming you will be working your entire body, and you will make your joints and ligaments remain loose and flexible. You will work mostly on arms, legs, hips, head and spine. In addition, it is also a good rehabilitation exercise to maintain the shape after having suffered an injury.
- It is healthy for your heart. With swimming you not only tone the muscles that are visible, but you will also be helping to work the most important muscle of your body, your heart. Being an aerobic exercise, you will help to make blood pumping more efficient and improve your circulation, and in that way you can prevent heart disease, inflammation in the body, varicose veins and even high blood pressure.
- It helps you lose weight. Swimming is one of the sports in which you burn more calories and therefore will help you maintain your ideal weight. It is best to combine intervals in which the effort is more intense with softer intervals that help you recover.
- It helps eliminate back pain. Surely more than once you have heard that swimming is good for those who suffer back pain or neck pain . This is because when we are in the water, the movements we make will be much softer than if we were doing it outside, besides we will not have to lift so much weight and that will also help us improve our posture and relieve tension.
- Improve the symptoms of asthma and your breathing. When we swim we do it in a humid air environment, which helps us reduce the appearance of asthma symptoms . In addition, swimming also increases our lung capacity and teaches us proper breathing techniques.
- It keeps your cholesterol levels adequate. all types of cholesterol are bad, and that to keep us healthy is more about maintaining the proper levels of each. Swimming can help you find that balance by lowering “bad” cholesterol (LDL cholesterol) and raising “good” cholesterol (HDL cholesterol).
- It reduces the risk of diabetes. Aerobic exercise can help protect you from diabetes , and swimming is one of them.
- Say goodbye to stress. When we exercise and practice sports such as swimming we are releasing endorphins, which helps us feel better and more animated. Swimming also helps us to relax and get away from stress due to the constant stretching of muscles and deep breathing we maintain. It also helps us to distract and evade us, because while we practice it we will only listen to the sound of water and our breathing, focusing only on the moment.
- You will sleep better. When you exercise, including swimming, surely insomnia will no longer be a problem for you, and you can enjoy a deep sleep.
Take a dip and swim!
As you could see practicing swimming you will be working many muscles of your body and strengthening them, something that undoubtedly your health will thank you for. In addition to this, you have also seen that there are numerous benefits that your practice will bring us on a regular basis.
In summary, swimming is a complete, refreshing sport and probably the only one you will not sweat with. Do you dare to try it?