Health & Fitness Blog
19 Jun 2024
Swimming for Health
Swimming is a full body workout that can be adapted to suit every level. A popular workout choice, swimming increases your heart rate, without putting stress on the body.
This also means swimming is a great workout for those with injuries and mobility issues, as it can continue to build fitness without causing further damage.
Physical Benefits
As with any sport, swimming improves both cardiovascular strength and muscular endurance. However, a major benefit of swimming is that it is non-weight bearing, meaning it doesn’t put pressure on the joints. This is beneficial and allows for muscle growth with a reduced risk of injury.
As well as this, due to the technique required, swimming can help increase both lung capacity and breathing control. This often leads to people breathing more efficiently.
Having better lung capacity means you will feel fitter in your everyday life!
Similarly, swimming is great for muscle recovery because it stretches and cools the muscles. Therefore, it is a good way to relieve any aches and pains. So, to recover from an intense workout, why not spend some time in our pools and saunas? You can find your nearest LivingWell here.
As well as the visible physical benefits of swimming, it also offers physical benefits that aren’t always visible.
Firstly, swimming can improve your circulation, meaning that your blood is moving more efficiently around your body, improving the health of your vital organs. Again, this will have a positive effect on your everyday life and will improve your sporting performance. As well as this, better circulation can also ease symptoms of anxiety.
Secondly, swimming can improve your sleep quality and quantity. Improved sleep offers a range of benefits, including increased levels of concentration and better heart health.
Mental Benefits
As well as the physical benefits, swimming can also positively benefit your mental health! Regular exercise such as swimming can help to boost your mood by alleviating stress. This is because exercise causes an increase in endorphins – a ‘feel good’ hormone.
By swimming regularly, you will also feel a sense of achievement as your fitness and technique improves, keeping you motivated and on track with your fitness goals. Finally, unlike any other sport, swimming has been shown to support mental resilience. This is a positive effect of submerging into cold water.
Swimming Workouts
If you are unsure what workout to do in the pool, you could start by setting a time limit and seeing how many lengths you can swim in this time frame. Alternatively, you could set a distance goal, and measure how long it takes you to reach this goal. You should also retest your time after a few weeks of frequent swimming sessions to see how your technique and endurance has improved!
If you are unsure of your fitness levels, or just want some guidance to get started, why not try an aqua aerobics class at LivingWell? You can find out all the details for our classes here.
