Physical Benefits of Swimming

Learning some benefits of swimming can increase a person's physical health while offering an easy and fun workout. How can swimming help you? Jump in and examine the benefits.

Burn, Baby, Burn
Swimming ignites calories and burns them off. Depending on how you use your time in the pool, a person can burn between 500 to 650 calories per hour.

Cardio Blast
The true benefits of swimming are that it builds endurance and boosts oxygen consumption. This improves how your body uses oxygen without overworking your heart. The more you swim, the more your resting heart rate and respiratory rate will reduce, allowing blood to flow to the heart and lungs more efficiently. Even blood pressure can be lowered by including swimming as part of a regular workout.

Lifetime Exercise
One wonderful benefit of swimming is that it's exercise that you can do at any age. Since it's a no-impact sport, swimming won't jar your joints. This benefits the entire body.

Low Impact
Swimming is extremely low impact since there's no ground impact. Joints are protected from stress and strain. People suffering from arthritis and pregnant women should swim or participate in water activities like water aerobics. Swimming relaxes stiff muscles and increases circulation.

Muscle Mass
Swimming tones muscle and builds muscle mass. Use swimming as a cross-training regimen with regular workouts. Since swimming uses most all major muscle groups, swimming tones both upper and lower body.

Other Possibilities
Swimming offers additional benefits that indirectly affect your health:

• Swimming is a good form of exercise when you're injured and can't follow your regular workout. 
• Need a break from the heat? Swimming cools the body temperature.
• Swimming is a family affair that promotes a healthy lifestyle.
• Swimming reduces stress levels.

If you are considering make an adjustment to your exercise routine, think about adding a trip to the pool for a quick dip. Your body will thank you.