Last updated on June 26th, 2020 at 05:52 am
We all know that exercising regularly is the key to become fit and healthy. It is absolutely true. When you hit the gym or involve in any form of physical exercise regularly, you tend to become fitter and stronger. But we often don’t like going to the gym or rarely go for a morning walk or jog. Feels like your case, then worry not, as there are other activities like swimming that has a number of health benefits, and it is equally beneficial for your health and fitness.
Swimming is one physical activity that can seriously help you beat the hit, have fun and at the same time, it helps you stay fit and healthy. If you like getting into the pool and wondering how it can be beneficial for you, then here’s everything you need to know about. As today, in this post, I am sharing about the amazing benefits of swimming and why it’s one hobby that we must have.
For someone who is an expert swimmer and love water, swimming is definitely fun. But you can’t ignore the fact that your body does a lot of physical work while you are swimming.
And, trust me, this effort by your body, does help a lot in keeping your fit and healthy. Swimming is a lot of fun but this is also an amazing way to burn some extra calories out of your body.
Swimming regularly can not only help you lose extra weight, but it also strengthens your body, boost your enduring power and make you a better performer in general.
There are a number of healthy benefits of swimming from losing body weight to becoming fitter and stronger, both physically and mentally.
Amazing health benefits of swimming everyday
There is no doubt that swimming is a great physical activity, and if you find hitting the gym or doing other physical activities hard, then switch to regular swimming and see what it does to your body.
Swimming is a great way to get rid of the negative energy inside you and fill yourself with confidence both mentally and physically. And, if you are into swimming or is eager to start practicing swimming, then it is all the more important for you to know about its health benefits as that will further motivate you to excel in swimming.
The only thing you need to be careful is that the swimming pools contain a lot of chlorine, so if your skin is sensitive to that, just take some precaution like wearing swimming costume etc.
Here are the amazing benefits of swimming every day that you must be aware of.
Swimming helps in weight loss
Obesity is a very serious issue in present times and combating it and helping you lose weight is undoubtedly one of the top health benefits of swimming. When you swim, the calories get burned and the more calories you burn, the better will be the fat mobilization. And, if you continue it, then within few months, you will be able to lose all of the excess fat in your body.
This fact also got scientifically proven when Korean scientists did an experiment on overweight and obese children and found out that swimming remarkably removed their fat mass.
So, if any of you is desperately trying to do weight loss, now you know what you have to do to get fast and effective benefits.
Swimming makes your bones stronger
Swimming is one of the great aerobic exercises and it can help you prevent loss of bone mass which is a very common problem that occurs with age especially in case of women. In fact, swimming if continued can also deal with problems like joint pain and arthritis and significantly reduce the pain.
Studies have been conducted and it was found that swimming was very effective in reducing the problem of osteoporosis, improving bone mass and strengthening your bones, in general.
Strengthens and tones your muscles
Besides making your bones strong, swimming also has a positive impact on your muscles. While you are swimming, there is repeated movement of your hands, legs, chest, abs, neck and head which helps in making your muscles slender and toned instead of bulky ones. Also, in swimming, you have to push your body forward by displacing the water surrounding you constantly and this actually helps in increasing the power and the strength of your muscles.
Improves heart health
If your cardiovascular health is poor, it is important for you to get into the practice of swimming as it will help you improve the condition of your heart. Your heart will pump well and it will become stronger and hence you will be able to prevent several cardiovascular diseases from occurring. In fact, the efficiency of swimming in keeping your heart good is proven by science and so you can never ignore this fact.
Moreover, swimming also showed beneficial effects in regulating blood pressure levels in body which is otherwise a primary factor in causing heart attacks and several other heart issues. So, when your blood pressure is in control, you can avoid heart related health risks better.
Lowers triglyceride in elderly adults
When there are high levels of triglyceride in body, it increases the risk of getting affected by heart diseases and eventually leading to early death. But, thankfully, you can lower the levels of triglyceride with swimming and studies have also proven it.
The study which was conducted on middle aged women resulted that those who swam daily for 1 hour for continuous 3 weeks showed better body composition, lost quite a lot of weight and also there were improvements in their blood lipid profiles. And, simultaneously, there was a drop in the levels of triglyceride in body.
Swimming helps fight asthma
Asthma is caused due to the swelling in your airways which blocks them and cause difficulty in your breathing. The very feeling that you are unable to breathe properly is really very frustrating. But trust me you can reduce it with swimming.
Unlike the working in the dry gym air, swimming allows you to breathe moist air while you are training. And, when you continue swimming, slowly the symptoms of asthma reduce and the condition of your lungs in general, improves a lot as well. The health benefits of swimming as far as reducing asthma attacks is concerned is already proven by science, so there is enough proof to conclude to the point.
However, despite the study reports, I will recommend that if you have got serious asthma, then better you consult a doctor first and then go for swimming. The reason I mentioned this is because some other studies have shown that swimming may increase asthma, so since your safety is of primary importance, it is always better to be aware of the seriousness of your asthma condition and then decide whether you will practice swimming or not.
Swimming improves mental health
Studies have shown that exercises like swimming have a positive impact on your mental health. You learn to fight anxiety, stress and depression and give a boost to your mood. One of the main reasons why it happens is because of the exercise-induced increase in the circulation of blood to your brain and also due to an influence on your hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal (HPA) and thereby on the physiologic reactivity to stress.
Swimming also helps in building self-esteem and helps you alleviate the symptoms of social withdrawal which further helps in improving your mental health.
Helps improve sleep quality
One of the other important health benefits of swimming is that it helps you get proper sound sleep. In one study performed on the aged adults with insomnia, it was found that performing aerobic exercises (that includes swimming) actually improved sleep and the quality of life in general.
Swimming helps you fight the depression and stress and remove the negative energy that was so long pent up within you. In other words, when your quality of life improves, you automatically learn to let go off the worries and have that proper night sleep that your body requires. Also, when you swim, your body along with your brain does a lot of work pushing the water aside and moving the body forward, so naturally it gets tired. So, when at the end of the day you go to bed, your body automatically craves for that rest and you fall asleep fast.
Insomnia is a common problem that most of us start facing with age and so if swimming can improve your condition and help you have a good night sleep then, I think enjoying some quality time in the pool is completely worth it.
Helps get rid of cerebral palsy
Cerebral palsy is quite a common problem in children which leads to movement disability. But, you can defeat this problem with proper exercise which obviously includes proper swimming. The reason why it is so effective is because it helps to improve the motor functions.
Also, it is noted that children really enjoy swimming and they do not feel fatigued at all, so when you do something out of love, naturally the results come really quick. This actually have been proven in one of the studies and since that swimming is recommended for children with cerebral palsy.
Swimming boosts neurogenesis
One of the neurological diseases is temporal lope epilepsy where there is death of the brain cells. Several antiseizure were used to treat the problem but with no effort. Then, in an attempt to find an alternate solution to the problem, an experiment was conducted by Prof. Vasavi R. Gorantla where he found out that with proper and regular swimming, you can actually increase neurogenesis.
This experiment was done on laboratory rats and it, in all probability will be effective in case of humans as well.
Improves body movements
While you are swimming, you have to coordinate a lot between your legs, hands, head, chest and eyes. This actually improves the movement of your whole body and also causes improvements in the coordination between your core and your limbs. This is one of the best health benefits of swimming be it whether you consider it for therapeutic, recreation or competitive purpose.
However, the study which was performed on the elderly showed that regular swimming not just improved eye hand coordination but also had a positive influence in the balance functions under complicated balance conditions.
Swimming is good for pregnant women
If you are pregnant, then swimming is one exercise who may look up to. This is because studies have been done and the results went in favor of the pregnant subjects. Like in one case where the experiment was done on a mother rat and it was seen that swimming actually altered the development of brain in her offspring. Swimming can even give protection to your babies against hypoxia ischemia, which is a type of neurological issue. In addition, swimming is one exercise that may be performed in all of the three trimesters which in turn, will be helpful in maintaining your body weight as well.
Another study was also performed where swimming in chlorinated pools resulted in no adverse effects on pregnant women. In fact, those pregnant ladies who swam in their early to mid-pregnancy stage actually showed a much lower risk of congenital defects and preterm labor.
There is no denying of the fact that swimming is quite beneficial for the pregnant women but since the matter is about pregnancy, I would like you to consult a doctor first and then take the decision. This is because not everyone will have the same health condition during pregnancy and there are bound to be complications in some individual or the other, so for your safety, better to take the expert advice from your physician.
Swimming makes you more flexible
Flexibility, to be very specific, is the ability of you to move your joints to the full range. So, when you swim, you use your core and limbs to push your body forward and stay afloat. In other words, you reach, stretch, twist and pull your way forward in the water which automatically makes your body more flexible. And, when you are flexible, you automatically gain a lot of advantage in various aspects of life.
Swimming may slow down aging
No one can stop the process of aging but you can definitely slow the process down and that is what swimming does. Now, the point is how it does it? Well, actually it keeps you fit and healthy which is one of the basics by which you can maintain that youthful healthy charm for long.
Moreover, it balances your blood pressure levels, increase bone and muscle strength, leads to better transportation of oxygen and circulation of blood in your body and in the end, helps prevent the occurrence of diseases. So, when all of this happens in your system, you automatically remain youthful, charming and ageless.
Conclusion: swimming regularly is beneficial for health and fitness
Swimming is a great physical exercise because it is a whole body exercise where most of your body parts are involved and gets benefitted in the process.
I have already shared about the top benefits of swimming for our health and fitness and if you are still waiting to hit the pool, this is the high time you think about it seriously.
If an individual has weak bones and want to strengthen it, then he can do that with swimming. Similarly, someone who is desperately trying to shed extra kilos will also be benefitted.
Moreover, the health benefits of swimming are not just limited to physical issues; it helps a lot in improving your mental health as well.
It kinds of acts as a motivating force that drives the negative energy out of you and gives a proper boost to your mood. So, swimming can help elevate your mind, body and soul.
In fact, most of the benefits of swimming we have discussed here have been scientifically proven. And therefore, there is very little doubt about whether swimming will benefit you or not. But in some conditions (asthma patients, pregnancy etc), it’s better to consult a doctor first, and then decide if you can hit the pool.
Swimming is undoubtedly a great aerobic exercise. But if you really want to enjoy the health benefits of swimming, you will have to do it dedicatedly and have to be regular with it. Also, be a little disciplined in life and get rid of the unhealthy habits so that you gain the maximum benefits of swimming.
What are the other benefits of swimming that you have experienced? Feel free to share your experience by commenting below.
Stay healthy and enjoy the health benefits of swimming.
