Swimming For Fitness

If you’re looking to get fit then you need to locate your local swimming pools. Regardless of your current levels of fitness, swimming will help you improve. If you think of most fitness regimes, they share common goals – losing weight, building muscle and becoming fit and healthy. Simply by regularly attending one of your local swimming pools you will be able to achieve all of this and more. Here we look at swimming for fitness and why it is one of the few sports that really ticks all of the boxes. You’ll be getting a full body workout with a reduced risk of injury, but if you still need a little convincing then read on for more.

Cardiovascular

Improving your level of cardiovascular fitness can never be a bad thing and swimming will give your system a real boost, especially if you attend regularly and develop a competent style.

Muscle

If you’ve seen a professional swimmer’s physique you will already know that they are muscular, toned and look great. Of course they are professional athletes, but you too can benefit over even a short period of time. Swimming can help build muscle and in addition it looks after your heart too – the most important muscle you have!

Training

When it comes to training, nothing stops it quicker than an injury. If you run regularly you’ll know the strain that it can put on your body, especially your knees. However, because the water adds buoyancy and support, swimming is generally a lot less likely to cause you any injury concerns meaning that you can do it for longer, and get started at more or less any age/level of fitness too.

Mental Health

You might think that it is only your physical fitness that will benefit from swimming but you’d be wrong. You can boost your mood too. Being away from your phone is a great start, but there is something about being submerged and supported in the water than can help you switch off and relax. You’ll soon find that your anxieties will wash away and you’ll experience a reduction in your stress levels too. Indeed the body’s stress hormone cortisol, which can be very bad for you, is reduced through regular swimming.

Flexibility, Coordination And Posture

The resistance provided by the water will build not only strength, but also flexibility. Your muscles will be working altogether, in a full body workout, but often in different directions, meaning that your overall levels of coordination will improve too. With there being less pressure on the joints, but with some gentle resistance, this increased flexibility will come more easily than perhaps static stretching out of the water. Altogether swimming will help you improve your body’s suppleness, flexibility, coordination and even give you a much better posture. All of these factors will be beneficial to your day to day life away from the pool improving your general quality of life.

Sport

Swimming regularly will of course make you a better swimmer, but there are gains to be had in respect of other sports too. Indeed, maybe professional sportspeople add swimming into their training regimes to gain an extra edge. Your breathing will improve as will your lung capacity. Because you are submerged at times, every breath matters that bit more and so not only will you learn to breathe more efficiently, but your lung capacity will increase. This helps not only athletes but also people with respiratory problems such as asthma. Also, if you are looking for some in depth reviews on water sports, visit Globo Surf, researched and edited by experts.

Muscles need oxygen during exercise, and when it is restricted they can lose performance. Swimming helps the muscles become more efficient because the oxygen is supplied in bursts. Improved respiratory and muscle efficiency is good for anyone, regardless of whether they are professional athletes or part time hobbyists.

Because swimming is less impactful it can be great to aid recovery from injury and help with rehabilitation too. Whatever other sport you might undertake, adding swimming to your fitness regime will only be a positive.

Swimming is therefore potentially one of the best forms of exercise available to you. Potentially it may even save your life one day, but moreover it will help improve your everyday life. Not only will your fitness levels improve, but your respiratory and cardiovascular systems will also be boosted. All of this can be achieved with little or no risk of injury too – which has to be a bonus. Finally it is something that you can do alone, in a group or as a family. Given that there is no age or fitness restriction to getting started, isn’t it time you dived into swimming?