Description
Swimming is an aerobic exercise that involves movement of almost the entire body and has less impact on the body compared to other exercises such as running.
Possible Benefits
- May improve physical performance
- May increase resistance
- May improve lung capacity
- May decrease stress levels
- May improve your posture
- May strengthen your muscles
- May improve mood
- May improve cardiovascular health
- May boost your confidence
- May help with weight loss
Required Equipment
Swimsuit, goggles, earplugs, and a swim cap. In certain cases, some of these items may be optional.
How to Do It
Find a pool and go swimming on a regular basis. If you don't know how to swim, sign up for classes so you can develop a good technique.
A good idea is to make it part of your exercise routine.
Why it works
- Swimming provides a complex cardio workout which activates the heart, lungs, and circulatory system.
- Swimming trains and improves the contraction movements of the heart, optimizing its functioning.
- It is a relaxing exercise for all the sensory activation. In addition, it forces you to train your breathing, which has a positive effect on the autonomic nervous system.
- It provides muscle relaxation, reduces bone degradation, and strengthens joint function. All this improves posture.
Time Commitment
30-60 minutes
Suggested Frequency
1-2 times per week
Time of Day
Ideally in the morning or afternoon
Possible Side Effects
Muscle pain, skin irritation.
It must be practiced with caution as there is a risk of drowning.
Tips
- To increase the benefits and avoid injuries, make sure you have a good technique.
- Do regular breathing exercises to be more prepared for swimming.
- If you don't practice regularly, start with short sessions.
- Complement this exercise with a good diet to improve your performance.
- Make sure you do it in a place with adequate sanitation to avoid infections by microorganisms.
Supporting Studies and Articles
Expand Collapse- Effect of regular swimming exercise on the physical composition, strength, and blood lipid of middle-aged women. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4625655/
- Analysis of swimming performance from physical, physiological, and biomechanical parameters in young swimmers. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17554159/
- Lung volumes in swimmers performing different styles of swimming. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12024993/
- Mood alteration with swimming--swimmers really do "feel better". https://journals.lww.com/psychosomaticmedicine/Citation/1983/10000/Mood_Alteration_with_Swimming_Swimmers_Really_Do.6.aspx
- Open water swimming as a treatment for major depressive disorder. https://casereports.bmj.com/content/2018/bcr-2018-225007.long
- The effects of an exercise intervention on forward head and rounded shoulder postures in elite swimmers. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20371564/
- The short-term effect of swimming training load on shoulder rotational range of motion, shoulder joint position sense and pectoralis minor length. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6134534/
- Swimming and the heart. https://www.internationaljournalofcardiology.com/article/S0167-5273(13)00482-8/fulltext
