Did you know that it is estimated that swimming burns around 30% more calories an hour than you would by running?
Swimming is a great summer pastime and an excellent way of staying cool. However, swimming is also a great method of staying fit and healthy. If you are someone who has been consistently exercising for years or just starting out, swimming can be a great addition to your fitness routine.
If you are interested in learning more about the benefits of swimming, then keep reading to learn the top 6.
1. Improves Sleep
When considering the different factors that impact your health, sleep may not rank as high on the list as it should. However, getting the right amount of sleep and better quality sleep is crucial to your health.
A lack of sleep can lead to chronic health problems such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, depression, obesity, and kidney disease. These conditions can not only negatively impact your quality of life, but may even lead to death.
Swimming is an aerobic exercise; aerobic exercises have been shown to significantly improve the length and quality of sleep that you get each night. This is excellent news for those struggling to get a good night’s rest.
Sleep has also been shown to improve the sleep of those who suffer from insomnia. This is great news for those who have a particularly difficult time falling asleep or staying asleep.
2. Full-Body Workout
One excellent aspect of swimming to consider is that it works out your entire body. This is because swimming does not only target a specific part of your body but instead simultaneously activates different areas of your body.
Swimming differs from other aerobic exercises like running in that it focuses on exercising your lower and upper body. As a result, swimming can also burn calories at a faster rate than these exercises.
The parts of your body that swimming engages are your core, arms, legs, glutes, and back. These areas will strengthen the more and more you swim.
Several swimming strokes can be performed in the water: breaststroke, butterfly, backstroke, and sidestroke. Consistently practicing these swimming forms will help increase your stamina and overall fitness.
3. Mood Booster
Swimming is not just great for your physical health but your mental health as well. For example, research has shown that swimming can improve the mood of people with dementia.
Anxiety and depression have also been shown to improve with swimming. This is great news because persistent anxiety and depression are extremely common mental disorders.
Swimming is also a great activity that can be done with friends or family. This can increase family relations and boost mood.
4. Lose Weight
If you want to lose weight, you will have to burn more calories than you consume. The more calories you burn, the faster you will lose weight.
Swimming burns a tremendous amount of calories. For example, one hour of swimming can burn up to 700 calories. This means that performing frequent freestyle swimming can significantly assist in your goal to drop a few pounds.
Losing excess weight can help lower blood pressure, lower the risk of some cancers, improve mobility, and provide higher self-esteem.
Not only will you be losing weight, but you will also be improving your cardiovascular health. Cardiovascular health means the health of your heart. Swimming is a low-impact cardio exercise that strengthens your heart which makes it capable of pumping blood more efficiently throughout your body.
5. Pregnancy Safe
If you are a woman who is pregnant, you may have found that your traditional workout routine is not only challenging but perhaps impossible to do. Not only this, but conventional workouts like running or cycling may even be unsafe.
This is where swimming can come in; it is excellent for pregnant women because it provides many of the same health benefits as other workouts while being much safer. When swimming, you don’t have to worry about tripping and falling or the danger of crashing on a bike.
Swimming can be performed during all three trimesters of pregnancy and can be done at your own pace. Keeping active while pregnant is crucial to keeping good health, but ensuring that your exercises are not too demanding yet still effective can be difficult.
This is why swimming can be perfect for those pregnant women at whatever point of pregnancy they find themselves.
6. Reduced Inflammation
Inflammation is the natural process when your body sends white blood cells to fight bacteria or heal an injury. While this is good, chronic inflammation can lead to a lot of pain.
Swimming has been shown to reduce system-wide inflammation in many different areas of your body. Swimming has also been shown to reduce atherosclerosis, which is a disease in which the plaque of fatty materials is deposited on the inner walls of arteries. This disease can be caused by inflammation.
Recap: Benefits
Swimming is an excellent way to both have fun and stay fit. In addition, swimming allows you to burn calories and improve your quality of sleep while preventing injuries.
If you are interested in making swimming part of your regular fitness habits, you may want to invest in a pool. Pools are an excellent way to make swimming a more accessible exercise; this will make you more likely to keep consistent at it.
If you are interested in getting a custom pool this summer, request a free consultation today!
