Swimming is something I hold very close to my heart. It is a life-saving skill I believe we all should learn from a young age. It has occurred to me that some kids and even adults, simply do not know how to swim. They cannot stay afloat or blow bubbles because they have not been taught the basics. This is very concerning especially because our earth is 70% water. I am not here to teach you how to swim (even though I would love to, considering I’m a swimming coach) but rather the importance of swimming and its benefit to your physical and mental wellbeing.
Swimming is a great recreational or competitive activity. It is proved to be one of the most effective ways of losing calories even more so than going for a walk or run. There are 4 strokes associated with competitive swimming; butterfly, backstroke, breastroke and freestyle, each burning a different number of calories:
This way, you can give your muscles a makeover easier than ever!
Physical Benefits
1. Swimming is a full body workout and
uses all muscles in the body, helping to build endurance, muscular strength and
cardiovascular fitness, all of which are important fitness components in maintaining
a healthy weight, healthy heart and healthy lungs. The risk of disease is therefore
lowered, and you are less likely to suffer from heart disease, stroke or type 2
diabetes.
2. Water supports up to 90 percent of the body’s mass, making it a very low impact activity. It is easy enough to continue swimming when injured because you can manipulate, and isolate different parts of the body e.g. having a shoulder injury – doing kick and no arm movement.
3. Swimming increases your energy levels through increased metabolism.
Mental Benefits
1. Swimming can be a relaxing
and peaceful form of exercise that alleviate stress, keeping you calm and focused.
2. Improves co-ordination, balance, posture, flexibility
3. It can lower stress levels, reduce anxiety, depression and sleeping patterns
4. Swimming is fun and can be enjoyed in several environments whether this be cooling down on a hot day, having lessons, or training for a national competition you have coming up next month.
Getting into swimming is easy. Public pools, beaches, lakes, rivers are easily accessible. Swimming could save your life, physically and mentally!
References:
https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/swimming-health-benefits
Science Scholars 2019 