Swimming is one of the best forms of cardiovascular exercise because it increases your heart rate and targets the main muscle groups in your body. It also helps to increase your endurance. Here are some of the things that swimming does for your body.
1. Prevents certain diseases and promotes weight loss
Swimming is a great way to burn calories. It also helps to reduce blood sugar levels, decrease the level of bad cholesterol (or LDL) in your blood, improves blood circulation and lowers blood pressure. All of these functions help to reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, Type 2 diabetes and stroke.
2. Boosts mood and relieves stress
Like other different forms of exercise, swimming causes a release of endorphins, which are hormones that boost your mood and manage pain.
3. Great for strength training
Swimming provides a more efficient way of strengthening your muscles. This is because the resistance of water is far greater than that of air, so you will have use a greater amount of energy to move through it. The effect that swimming has on your muscles can be likened to that of expensive gym equipment. Thus, swimming is a cost effective way of improving your resistance and muscle strength.
4. Relatively safe
Ever wondered why you feel weightless when you are under water? This is because you only bear about 10 percent of your weight due to the water’s upthrust. This provides you with more flexibility and reduces the burden on your muscles, bones and joints, thereby reducing your chances of getting injured, unlike other forms of exercise. Swimming is the best form of exercise to do when you’ve had an accident because it is a low-impact activity.
5. No sweating
All other different forms of exercises that are performed on land can lead to excessive sweating. Also, because the water cools your body, you will not suffer from heat exhaustion, which is a common complication that occurs with prolonged exercise that leads to brain damage and even death in some extreme cases.
You can head down to a pool near you to try this relatively cheap and relaxing form of exercise. Increase your swimming distance and perform different styles of swimming each week to improve your body and make it more interesting.
image courtesy of: shalerareaswimclub.com.
