Swimming is a fun summertime exercise regimen, but you can carry on throughout the year in indoor pools or heated pools. Swimming is a very beneficial form of exercise, for many reasons.

First, it is easy on the body. It is for everybody. Physiologist Robert A. Robergs says that swimming is a good fit for just about everyone, even those with physical limitations or those who find other forms of exercising painful. For instance, I injured my feet during a workout and pinched a nerve in my feet. As a result, I cannot do a lot of cardiovascular exercises. But, I can swim, because there is no pressure on my feet whatsoever. Robergs says that it is a whole body exercise that is low impact and perfect for those with musculoskeletal, arthritis, or weight limitations.

Water’s buoyancy works for the fit and the unfit. It does so because it supports stiff joints and fragile bones. When the body is surrounded with water, it weighs only half of its weight on solid land. If the water reaches the chest, the weight is only 25-35%, and water up to the neck makes you weigh only 10% of your original weights.

This is freeing and allows you to do moves that you probably cannot do on land. Athletes use water to recover after injury. People with arthritis also rely on water to improve their fitness and expand on their range of motion. Swimming is also good for those who have asthma, as the humidity in the water clears the passageways of our respiratory system.

Not only does it help this way, but it also calls all major muscle groups into action: back, abdominals, legs, gluteus, and shoulders. Water has 12 times the resistance of air, so it helps develop strength in the body.
Swimming has proven to be quite the fountain of youth. The University of South Carolina found that men who swam regularly had a fifty percent lower chance of death than their non-swimming peers. That is a huge percentage!

However, swimming is also helpful for your brain and nerve system. Swimming laps and doing water aerobics gives your body those endorphins and feel good chemicals.  You can relax after a swim and feel solitude. It bring in the relaxation found in a yoga class. The stretching and relaxing of muscles coupled with deep rhythmic breaths is what relates this activity to relaxation. Swimming challenges your body without being too painful or uncomfortable.

It also affects your brain, literally. It improves your hippocampal neurogensis. The brain essentially replaces all those stressed out and beat up cells with stronger brain cells. How cool is that!

Swimming can be really competitive and challenging. Think of dolphin strokes and the other strokes swimmers have to do in competitions. All of these strokes tone your muscles and give you strength. It also improves your stomach line. You rely on your core a lot during swimming. The density of the water makes everything you do in the water more intense, more effective, and more worthwhile. Resistance exercises are the best way to tone your muscles and build up strength.

Not only does swimming help your body, but it also helps the most important muscle in your body: your heart. Swimming is an aerobic exercise and that gives your heart a chance to pump up more blood. Aerobic exercises help fight the body’s inflammatory responses that lead to heart disease.

We have to exercise at least thirty minutes every day and you can use swimming to satisfy that quota. According to studies, if you swim for thirty minutes a day, you can cut your coronary heart disease by almost 40%.

According to the Annals of Internal Medicine, blood pressure is also improved by swimming aerobically. It also lowers blood pressure, allows you to live longer, and helps you avoid coronary heart diseases.

Swimming is great! It’s a lot of fun and good for you at the same time.  So stop reading about it and go jump in a pool!