Cardiovascular exercise is one of the best things you can do for your body. It keeps your heart healthy, and you burn calories. While activities like jogging, biking, and rowing are all great exercises, swimming has some key benefits that make it rise above the rest.
If you want to get in shape and live a healthy lifestyle but you find that working out on dry land isn't your favorite, swimming may be the best solution.
Let's look at the seven reasons why swimming is the best exercise and how a swimming pool can help you get in shape and stay in shape.
#1: It Helps You Workout Slow and Steady
Swimming is an excellent option if you're looking for a great cardio workout but don’t want to push yourself to intense extremes. In just an hour or even half an hour, if you’re short on time, you can raise your heart rate without even breaking a sweat. Well, that’s not entirely true – you simply won't feel like you’re breaking a sweat since you’re already in the water).
More than any other cardiovascular exercise, swimming is a great way to get a workout without over-exerting yourself – unless you want to. You can choose to push yourself as hard as you want to. If you want to dig in, build muscle, and cut fat, you can focus more on speed and intensity, but if you’d rather increase your heart rate and flexibility, you can take it slow.
#2: It Increases Your Heart Rate
Speaking of your heart, no matter how intense your workout is, your heart rate is bound to increase in the pool. That’s because your entire body is working. In a pool, your movement is constantly pushing against the buoyancy of the water. This provides a natural resistance that is both easy on your joints and great for pumping the heart.
This is especially good for you if you are overweight or are just trying to shed a few pounds to return to a healthier level. According to WebMD, swimming can help those struggling with high blood pressure, cholesterol, and even diabetes. This is because your heart rate increases steadily and healthily while swimming.
#3: It's a Low-Impact Exercise
Swimming is the best form of cardiovascular exercise for anyone looking to take stress off their muscles and joints. Swimming is a soothing, more natural form of exercise, unlike jogging, weightlifting, or even cycling. While none of those types of workouts are necessarily bad, they can take a toll on your joints and ligaments.
This is because land-based exercises involve pounding, pushing, and pulling, some of which – when done incorrectly – can be damaging in the long term. Swimming, meanwhile, is the opposite, allowing you and your muscles to move fluidly against the water.
#4: It Builds Strength and Endurance
For anyone looking to get back into exercising or even begin working out for the first time, swimming is a great place to start. Since it helps your heart rate increase at a pace that works for you, it helps you build your strength and endurance without exerting yourself too much or putting stress on your joints.
Anyone trying to develop new, healthy exercise habits needs to develop them slowly over time and avoid tiring themselves out right out of the gate. Swimming can really help with this, and you can supplement it with other forms of exercise.
#5: It's Your Best One-Stop Shop
Your heart rate increases steadily during swimming because it works your entire body. Depending on your routine, you can work your arms, shoulders, back, chest, abdomen, and legs all at once.
Swimming has four main strokes – freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke, and butterfly. When done in tandem, it builds muscle throughout your body. You can also use devices like kickboards and flippers to focus specifically on one group.
#6: It Helps You Lose Fat & Tone Muscle
Because swimming tackles each muscle group while simultaneously increasing your heart rate, it’s the best way to lose fat while toning your muscles at the same time. If you are looking to get in shape overall, swimming – along with a nutritious diet – is a great way to do so in a relaxed, efficient way.
Going on a crash diet or intense workout routine might work for a time, but swimming helps develop healthy, long-term habits that you can use your entire life. Swimming is an exercise you can do your whole life. Young, old, and those in between benefit from time in the pool.
#7: It Soothes Your Joints
If you’re recovering from an injury, suffering from arthritis, or just sore from other workouts, swimming could be the right solution. Because swimming workouts are low-impact, they’re a highly effective way of soothing joint pain, especially if the pool is heated or you’re using a hot tub.
Final Thoughts on the Best Exercise
Even if you’re not an avid swimmer or don't plan on adding it to your exercise program, going for a quick swim or even a brief soak in a hot tub can decrease muscle tension and soothe aching joints.
If you want to install a pool or hot tub in your backyard to make it easier than ever to do swimming exercises at home, call us. We’re ready to help.
