Boost Your Wellness with Swimming

For good reason, many people are ditching the pavement for the pool when it comes to their overall health. Swimming is known to increase your muscle tone, cardio capabilities, and bone strength. Non-competitive swimming is one of the best fitness activities you can do year-round.

Nearly anyone can swim regardless of their weight, age, or past fitness history. Non-swimmers can benefit from pool activities including walking or jogging in the water. It offers low-impact resistance to each submerged body movement and is easy on the joints. Those who are recovering from an injury can continue exercising through swimming. It stimulates the flow of endorphins helping to reduce stress and comfortably allow the body to respond better to pain or strenuous activity. It's never too late to dive in and help improve your overall health. Here are some ways swimming can boost your health, flexibility, and wellness.

Stamina Building

The more time you spend in the pool, the more you will boost your performance in other aspects. The benefits you get from both strength training and cardio are impressive. Your muscles are always under resistance resulting in effective physical exercise. You'll likely notice an improvement in your overall cardio fitness and are much more flexible than before. It's proven that swimming increases an athlete's range of motion. It also builds lung capacity better compared to those who are runners. If you're a cyclist, water paddler, or runner, your lung capacity developed from swimming will allow you to go harder, faster, and longer.

Tests conducted on swimmers showed lower blood pressure and resting heart rates. The benefits of increased stamina are witnessed in day to day life of the individual. Enhanced endurance will make a person swim longer and faster and make it easier to climb stairs without feeling winded. Overall swimmers feel more energetic and can do more activities for more extended periods.

Mood-Boosting

After a good swim, most people feel revitalized and refreshed. While you might be tired physically, it perks you up mentally. According to Disease Control and Prevention, swimming relieves symptoms of anxiety and depression. It creates the same mood boost as a runner's high and reduces the amount of sensory information your brain and body are used to. This boost provides a sense of calm and relief to those suffering from depression and chronic stress. Swimming helps repair damaged brain cells and improves brain function. It boosts blood flow which helps improve memory, focus, clarity, and mood. When one is immersed in water, brain blood flow is higher in the middle cerebral arteries.

Helps You Live Longer

Researchers studied swimmers over the course of 30 years and found that they are 50 percent more likely to live longer than those who don't. You're using limited breaths for longer lengths of time thus improving your cardiovascular performance. When the body uses oxygen more efficiently, it can result in living a longer life. Long-term studies found that individuals who swam three to five times per week postponed the aging process by decades. Performing the backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, or freestyle swimming will all add years to your life.

It keeps your weight under control.

Swimming is the best solution to burning the most calories in the shortest amount of time. The average individual can burn up to 350 calories in as little as 30 minutes. You're more likely to swim for longer periods than the time you overspend sweating in the gym. Swimming three to four times per week for 30 minutes along with eating a well-balanced diet will keep the pounds down and keep you looking and feeling your best.

Go swimming.

Whether you have a specific health goal in mind, or are just looking for a healthy activity to participate in, swimming makes an excellent choice. It's a great option to do in the summer, but there are also indoor options available making swimming possible throughout the year. Many people are even adding swimming pools to their properties to take advantage of these benefits at the ultimate convenience. Simply search custom pools in Naples, or wherever you live to see contractors near you that could bring this wellness boosting tool to your very own backyard.