Benefits of Swimming

Description: Swimming is a great workout for your cardiovascular health and overall wellness. It lets you torch calories without all that strain in your joints and bones. Find out why swimming is good for you!

Achieving optimum health is easier said than done. Aside from eating a well-balanced, nutritious diet, we are all advised to – well, get moving! Experts believe that an adult must perform moderate activities totaling 150 minutes every week to stay healthy. This, or a weekly 75-minute intense routine.

Luckily, you can choose from a variety of moderate and vigorous activities that you find fit for your needs and preferences. From jogging to running to swimming, any exercise is considered favorable for your health. But, if you particularly want to avoid all that strain in your joints and bones, swimming may be the perfect option for you!

While most of us probably already know that swimming is good for our cardiovascular health, there are actually tons more to it that needs to be discovered! Find out how swimming can help torch calories, keep your lungs and heart strong, boost your mood, relieve your stress, and improve your sleep quality. Read on to explore these benefits and more, and how you can add swimming to your fitness journey!

How Swimming Benefits Your Health

Swimming is a great exercise for your entire body.

One of the best physical benefits of swimming is its ability to work (and consequently, enhance) your body from head to toe! In swimming, you perform several strokes such as backstroke, breaststroke, sidestroke, butterfly, and freestyle. Each of these strokes works to tone different muscle groups, resulting in firmer and better-looking muscles. While giving your muscles a good workout, swimming also enhances your strength and endurance.

Swimming boosts your cardiovascular health.

Swimming plays a crucial role in the promotion of cardiovascular health. Not only does it keep your lungs strong but your heart as well. Researchers even concluded that people who swim cut their risk of death by half compared with inactive people. Several studies also provided proof that swimming can benefit blood pressure and arterial stiffness, and enhance insulin sensitivity and blood sugar control.

Swimming improves asthma symptoms.

People suffering from asthma apparently can get relief from swimming! Experts say that swimming proves to be an ideal activity for asthmatic people, especially children. The symptom-enhancing effects of swimming are attributed to the humid environment in indoor pools as well as the gentle force of water. Aside from improved asthma symptoms, swimming has also been linked to reduced hospital visits.

Swimming helps people with multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis is a disabling disease of the central nervous system that adversely affects the brain and/or spinal cord. Luckily, MS sufferers can find relief from swimming, too! A research discovered that swimming can ease the pain experienced by people suffering from multiple sclerosis. This is because the water provides both support and gentle resistance for MS patients during the physical activity.

According to the study, MS sufferers who performed a 20-week swimming program experienced less pain within 10 weeks from the program's conclusion. The research further revealed that the study participants also improved their other symptoms such as disability, fatigue, and depression.

Swimming enhances your mood.

Looking for a mood booster? Swimming may give you exactly just that! A research found evidence that swimming can enhance the mood of people with dementia. According to the study, the 12-week aquatic program decreased the behavioral and psychological symptoms in people with dementia (BPSD). It also discovered that swimming enhanced the psychological wellness of people suffering from moderate to severe dementia.

Generally speaking, the mood-enhancing powers of exercise not only benefits people with health conditions but other individuals as well.

Swimming relieves stress.

Not only can swimming boost your mood, but it can relieve your stress as well. Swimming was also found to play an important role in stress management. Researchers found that the activity reduces the feeling of stress and depression in swimmers. Of the 101 swimmers surveyed for the study, only eight reported feeling stressed after swimming.

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