The swimming as an act of moving your limbs through water has been known to humanity for over 7000 years. Although the benefits of swimming used as a physical and mental exercise were discovered only couple of hundreds of years ago, when it also became a sport and the competitive swimming started to take place in Europe and soon after, in the rest of the world.
Today it is a very popular sport, and also a great addition to one’s healthy lifestyle in more than one way.
The health benefits of swimming
Swimming is probably one of the rare fun exercises which can actually cool your body instead of heat it and works out every muscle of the human body (if one uses more diverse techniques of swimming). And the best part is that you are in fact making the best compound exercise possible without stressing your body and taking it to the limits.
The higher density of the water compared to the air, impose us to use more force while exhaling and inhaling, increasing the vital capacity of the lungs i.e. the maximum amount of air a person can expel from the lungs, thus it’s highly recommended for smokers, people suffering of asthma or some similar diseases.
You see, aside of the fact that you are enjoying it, your body will also benefit a great deal.
The temperature difference between our body and the water helpfully affect the thermoregulation of our body as well. The water pressure also positively affects our blood vessels, enforcing their capacity to transport blood to the heart.
And in turn every muscle is constantly provided with blood and oxygen. That alone makes swimming one of the best exercises there is when it comes to muscle growth as well as a kick-ass cardio.
On the bigger picture, it’s great for our endurance and general fitness, and in regard to the cardio, this alongside with running/jogging is considered to be the king of cardio. And it’s actually used with great success by athletes as a rehabilitation activity after injuries as well.
With the right approach in the early years, creating a habit of swimming and overcoming the fear of water is a perfect recipe for enabling your kids a long and healthy life. It also affects the growth and the shape of the child’s bones, making it a highly recommended and a very useful activity for the kids.
Psychological benefits of swimming
The psychological benefits of swimming are just as important as the other health benefits of swimming. With our lives becoming faster and faster, more demanding than ever and more stressful, the swimming can serve as a brilliant escape capsule.
Imagine yourself, floating in the crystal clear blue water, letting your thoughts about the world drift away while getting all the stress that’s been bothering you the whole time out of you. It sounds pretty awesome right?
It sounds awesome, because it is awesome. So, the next time you’re wondering what to do in order to update or improve your healthy lifestyle, don’t forget to include swimming in your possible choices.
Its benefits are just too much to be ignored. I’ve been swimming for a while now, and can tell you for sure that it certainly act as a stress killer.Just by starting, like for a day or two, you will see the results yourself, and soon be addicted.
I mean have you ever asked yourself why you feel so much relived while staying for a week or two at the beach. Some studies show that just by looking at the water the stress can be reduced a great deal. So imagine you go swimming couple of times a week. Wouldn’t that do the trick?
And to be honest I’m really not familiar with an activity that can increase your endorphin levels so much. And that cuts stress in its root. I mean with being a strength exercise and at the same time a tremendous cardio workout it is probably the best when it comes to that.
So all of you folks who never considered swimming, I bet you will start now, because as you can see it can offer you a lot of benefits, fun, and can transform and improve your life a lot. You must try it to know what I’m talking about. The benefits of swimming are just too valuable to simply be ignored in your pursuit for a healthy lifestyle.
P.S. I struggled to convince my friends some time ago, but now they are really addicted.