Swimming blog - HEALTH 5 healthy reasons to swim

We love swimming and so think it’s natural that everybody should swim. But what are the health benefits of swimming? We have five reasons for you why everybody should swim. Whether you want get away from the stress of the daily grind, get fit and toned or stay injury free, look no further that this beautiful sport that’s called swimming. 

A low risk of injury 
Swimming has a low risk of injury for obvious reasons; lack of physical contact with other swimmers (most of the time ;-) ) and lack of contact with the ground. As beautiful as gravity is for dropping apples from trees, it is unforgiving on joints and muscles in the world of adult sports. Water takes away the majority of the gravitational load and allows us to use arm and leg muscles in a weightless environment. With proper technique training, as provided here at SwimGym.com, the risk of injury is even lower. Swimming is in fact a great way to recover from injury as it allows the body to move rigorously without overly stressing the body. There are no other sports equally tough on your upper and lower body while being gentle on joints.
 
Tone-up your body! 
As is well known, swimming uses all the muscles in the body. The body needs to co-ordinate the muscles in a way that keeps the body balanced yet moving forward. This requires muscle tension and core strength. Swimming is great for toning up your body. Pushing off from the wall, for instance, mimics squatting on land but, without gravity this makes it a lot more fun and the benefits of a tight tummy will speak for itself. Whether you swim a gentle breaststroke or “Like a Pro” butterfly, you will get a full body workout and make all the muscles work hard. 

A great cardio workout 
Thirty minutes of swimming is equivalent to forty five minutes of land based training. Swimming is the only sport where you can vary the intensity of the training without going faster. Playing around with our breathing rhythms alone will turn an easy endurance training into an interval training. The combination of breathing less and the water’s resistance help maintain an elevated heartbeat that means that swimming will keep those calories burning and metabolism in tip top shape. 

Swimming de-stresses and relaxes 
Have you tried to think about anything else but swimming while swimming? Hell no – swimming up and down and concentrating on the catch is enough to clean out any crazy thoughts or to-do lists in our heads, leaving us feeling fresh and ready for the challenges of the day. Swimming requires a mental engagement that very few other sports do. It is great for reducing stress levels and increasing levels of co-ordination within brain and body. 

Swimming increases flexibility and mobility 
Swimming freestyle, backstroke or butterfly requires swimming with our arms above our heads. Great for overall shoulder flexibility. The flipturn requires good mobility in the spine as does swimming breaststroke. Healthy body tension and reduced stress from being in the water promotes overall body mobility. There is no age restriction. Swimming is for all ages and we can swim with pleasure our whole lives through! 

Have a look at the featured SWOD to try it yourself!