Swimming is a low impact way to exercise, and it gives you a whole body workout too.. It helps to improve your lung function, increase your stamina, relax any tension in your body, and of course it helps you to lose weight too.
Swimming is also a great type of exercise because it is one of the few that can be done by people of any fitness level, and at almost any age. Since your body is suspended in water, this form of exercise is safe, and does not put the body under much stress. The result is a total cross training workout that supports the joints and helps to strengthen them, without causing any adverse effects as is often common with higher impact exercises.
Not only does swimming provide one of the most effective workouts on its own, it can also help to improve the quality of land based exercises as well. If you go for a brief swim before going out for a jog, or maybe doing some rock climbing etc, then it is a great way to warm up your muscles and make sure they are nice and pliable ready to do what you need. Or you could try swimming after other exercise as a great way to cool down your body and relax the muscles.
As well as all the physical benefits of swimming, then it also offers mental benefits too, it can help your mind to relax after a hard day at work. The calming effect of the water lapping against your body, along with the fact all the weight is taken off your body, helps your mind to wander and you to relax. People who are regular swimmers tend to have more self-discipline and stick to goals better too, probably because it requires more effort to go swimming than just jogging around your local area.
People who are looking to lose a lot of weight can really get the most benefit out of swimming. Since the activity is low-impact, even people who are severely overweight can benefit from spending just thirty minutes in the pool. Depending on total body weight, swimming can burn up to three calories per pound of weight, per mile. So for example, if you swam a mile and you weighed 200 pounds, then you could expect to burn about 600 calories. Of course you must keep in mind that weight loss results will vary depending upon your stamina, the total length of your workout, and the total distance you swim. You can see now why I think swimming is one of the best ways to lose weight, and one of the best ways to get or stay fit as well, even if you don’t need to lose any weight.
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Filed under Exercise, Weight Loss by on Jul 11th, 2010.
