Swimming is a fun activity for many people in the summer when the weather is warm and swimming pools or beaches are visited. But in addition to being a fun summer activity with lifeguard training, it is also a sport with many benefits and therefore a good sport for everyone.
Full body workout
Swimming works every muscle in the body. Both your upper and lower body are trained, just like muscles you didn’t even know you had. In addition, it also loosens your back so that you will suffer less from back problems if you swim regularly.
Swimming also helps to build muscle mass. Because water provides resistance, swimming is the perfect strength training. Make sure that you alternate different strokes, otherwise you will not train all your muscles yet and you will not make optimal use of the opportunity.
Building fitness
Another big advantage of swimming is that it increases your lung capacity, which ensures a better condition. Just like with any other sport, you increase your fitness with swimming, but with swimming, it goes a lot faster than with other sports.
In addition, swimming is also better for your heart as the risk of developing cardiovascular disease decreases. This is because regular swimming lowers blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Also, blood flows back to your heart more easily since water exerts more pressure than outside air. This ensures that your heart has to work 10% – 15% less hard.
To lose weight
Do you want to lose weight? Then swimming is the perfect sport for you. Compared to other sports, you burn calories very quickly with swimming. With half an hour of swimming, you can already lose about 300 calories! This is because swimming is an endurance sport and endurance sports cause fat burning and weight loss. The dressing doesn’t kick in for about twenty-five minutes, though, so you’ll need to swim long enough to actually lose weight.
In the water you weigh only 10% of your normal body weight (so only eight kilos with a weight of eighty kilos). Because you are so light in the water, you can move better. You can also do other sports to lose weight, such as running, but unlike swimming, your muscles and joints are much more stressed, which increases the chance of overload or injuries.
Swimming can help a lot with weight loss, but to really lose weight, you will also have to pay attention to your diet. If you eat healthily and swim regularly, you will quickly get rid of the excess pounds.
Little chance of injuries
Injuring yourself swimming is very difficult. Of course, you can make a wrong move or become overloaded if you swim too much, but the chance of serious injuries is a lot less than with other sports, such as running or football.
Because the risk of injury is so low and you only weigh 10% of your body weight in the water, swimming is also the perfect sport if you have to recover from an injury or a strenuous activity, as many top athletes do. Do you participate in any sport other than swimming? Then go swimming once or twice a week so that your body can recover from that effort, while still building more fitness and muscle mass.
Letting go of stress
As with any other sport, swimming also makes you happier and can release stress because endorphins are released during exercise. With an hour of swimming, you will notice that you come out of the pool more relaxed and have extra energy.
People with a lot of stress are often sleepless. Swimming helps with that too. By swimming regularly you usually sleep better and deeper. This is due to the soothing effect that allows you to completely relax. So are you a little less comfortable in your own skin? Then swim a few lengths and you’ll feel a lot better in no time.