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Health benefits of swimming

Last updated on : 05 Mar, 2024

Read time : 8 min

Swimming is beneficial to people of all ages, backgrounds, and levels of experience. Swimming is one of the few sports that can be enjoyed by individuals of all ages. There is no reason you cannot participate. When it comes to reaping the benefits of swimming, there is still time. The mental and physical benefits of swimming can’t be overstated. Swimming offers many health benefits due to the therapeutic cooling effect on the body. It also enhances the resistance it provides over dryland activities. It’s a wonderful sport, in every way.

Learn about the health benefits of swimming and how to incorporate swimming exercises into your daily routine in the following sections.

Benefits of Swimming

1. Swimming keeps you flexible

Swimming includes reaching, stretching, twisting, and pulling. Your ankles extend as you kick against the liquid pressure. Do your own stretching, but the repetitive stretching from your strokes also helps.

2. Benefits of swimming in asthma patients

Swimming helps asthmatics. Asthma patients benefit from divers underwater breathing methods.
When the bronchial tubes lose heat and moisture, asthmatics have trouble breathing. This happens in dry or chilly conditions. Swimming helps asthmatics because it restores moisture lost during vigorous breathing.
Chemicals in pools have been related to increased asthma attacks in some persons. Therefore, discuss your alternatives with your physician.

3. Calories burned by swimming

Swimming is a tried-and-true calorie-burning exercise. This at a regular pace burns more calories than walking.
Swimming laps around the pool burn more calories than running laps for an hour. Lap swimming can burn up to 715 calories every hour. 5 miles run at 5 mph burns 606 calories.
Swimming at a slow or moderate pace burns roughly 423 calories. An hour of walking at 3.5 miles per hour burns 314 calories. Yoga may burn 183 calories each hour. Swimming is one of the best and most efficient ways to burn calories.

4. Full Body Workout

The benefits of swimming improve strength, endurance, agility, and muscle tone. Use a variety of swimming strokes to break up the monotony. Each of these styles targets a different muscle, so go wild!

Swimming requires a bigger number of muscular groups to push through the water. Arms pull, legs kick. As a result, you become more flexible. Swimming is an excellent full-body workout.

5. Benefits of swimming in building strength and muscle definition.

Swimming builds muscle strength all across the body. Unlike runners, swimmers need more muscular groups to move through the water. Arms pull while legs kick. Swimming is a great total body workout since it tightens the stomach and twists the back.

6. Safe during pregnancy 

There are also some benefits of swimming for pregnant ladies. This fantastic form of exercise can also assist pregnant women. Sweating during pregnancy may reduce the risk of congenital defects and preterm labour. See your gynaecologist first, especially if you’re having pregnancy issues.

7. De-Stresser

A few laps a week can help you relax and refresh. By escaping the everyday grind, this soothing exercise helps reduce anxiety and depression. Pleasant physical exercise also helps you sleep better. Swimming has also been shown to help manage sleep patterns over time.

It raises the heart rate without exhausting the body. This can help older adults sleep better and improve their quality of life.

8. Benefits of swimming as a skin therapy

Sea swimming is good for the skin. Swimming in the sea’s salty waters keeps the skin moist and aids in detoxifying. It also encourages new skin cell proliferation. From these, you may get your skin smooth and soft.

Other advantages of swimming

1. Swimming Teach Goal-Setting

Swimmers develop personal and professional goals. Swimming provides kids and adults with a goal. If you want to improve your lap time or recover from an injury, setting goals and achieving them is crucial. Swimmers’ talents to achieve such aims may and will be used outside the pool.

2. The benefits of swimming make you smarter

Swimming increases memory and reasoning skills. This is good for the classroom, work, and for us as we age. Exercise decreases brain inflammation and insulin resistance, promoting new brain cell growth. Swimming reduces anxiety and tension, allowing the brain to think more efficiently.

3. Benefits of swimming in delaying ageing

The pool is like a fountain of youth. Swimming lowers blood pressure, builds muscle, enhances brain oxygenation, and promotes cardiovascular health. Swimming can assist elderly people to gain strength and balance. Seniors with joint pain might use the pool to improve flexibility and reduce inflammation. It also takes less energy.

4. Swimming promotes teamwork

Swimmers on teams or in classes develop better teams. Swimmers learn to cooperate, encourage, communicate, and lead. These traits make great leaders throughout maturity. Teamwork, goal-setting, inspiration, strategy formulation, and coordination lead to successful careers and professional relationships.

Swimming Exercises

1. Walk-in water

  • Walking in water is a great first workout since it teaches you how to produce resistance. Swimming may work your arms, core, and legs. Adding hand or ankle weights increases the intensity.
  • Begin in waist-deep water.
  • Instead of tiptoeing, lengthen your spine and walk with your heel first, then your toes.
  • Keep your arms by your sides and walk with them.
  • As you walk, keep your core engaged and your posture upright.
  • Walk for 5-10 minutes.

2. Back wall glide

  • This workout works your core and lower body muscles.
  • Hold the pool ledge, tuck your knees in, and lean on the wall.
  • Float as far back as possible on your back.
  • Draw your knees into your chest, and race back to the wall.
  • Repeat for 5-10 minutes.

3. Water arm lifts

  • This workout will assist in strengthening the arms. Using foam dumbbells will assist in increasing the resistance.
  • Get as deep as your shoulders in the water.
  • Draw your elbows in toward your torso as you raise your forearms to the water’s surface.
  • Rotate your wrists inward to expose your palms
  • Restore your arms to their initial positions.
  • Each exercise should be performed in 1-3 sets of 10-15 reps.

4. High-knee lift extensions

  • This exercise can help strengthen your core and lower body muscles. By adding ankle weights, you can increase the difficulty.
  • Maintain a waist-high position in the water.
  • As you lift your right leg, engage your core and bend your knee until your leg is level with the water.
  • Pause for a few seconds with one leg lifted.
  • Straighten your leg and maintain this position for a few seconds.
  • Reduce your leg slowly, keeping it straight.
  • Rep using your left leg.
  • Continue for a further 5-10 minutes.

5. Jumping jacks

  • It strengthens both the upper and lower body. Resistance can be added using wrist and ankle weights.
  • At breast level, immerse yourself in water.
  • Begin by bringing your feet together and keeping your arms at your sides.
  • Extend your legs and simultaneously raise your arms above your head to jump.
  • Return to the beginning position by jumping with your feet together and your arms at your sides.
  • Perform 1-3 sets of 8-12 reps.

6. Kick Drills

Hold a kickboard at arm’s length. Flutter or dolphin kick across a pool while tightening your core muscles. Flexing your foot past 90° will improve your results and propulsion. Target different muscle groups with these kicks:

a) Flutter Kick:

Kicking up and down with straight legs in line with your body. It works on the deepest ab muscle group under obliques

b) Frog Kick: 

Bend your knees and bring your feet together, like a frog. Straighten your legs as far as you can, then swiftly re-adjust them. It tones and shapes the inner thighs and glutes.

c) Butterfly Kick: 

Bring your legs together from thighs to feet. Toes up. Use your hips to kick your legs together, like a fin, through the water.

7. Breaststroke and Butterfly Drill

Full-body strokes like butterfly and breaststroke improve endurance and speed. One arm lift for every three leg kicks. Then use one arm pull for every three dolphin kicks. Tighten your core muscles to help pull your arms out of the water. Then do 10 25-meter swims with 15-second rests.

8. Leg and Core Toners

Lean against the pool’s side, arms extended, grabbing the edges. When you reach the surface, draw your legs together and straighten them in front of you. Move your legs forth into a V, then back together. Keep them together and return to the start. To finish each motion, engage your abs and glutes. 3 sets of 20 reps of pulling them up, out, in and down.

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Our healthcare experts have carefully reviewed and compiled the information presented here to ensure accuracy and trustworthiness. It is important to note that this information serves as a general overview of the topic and is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to diagnose, prevent, or cure any health problem. This page does not establish a doctor-patient relationship, nor does it replace the advice or consultation of a registered medical practitioner. We recommend seeking guidance from your registered medical practitioner for any questions or concerns regarding your medical condition.

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