Health Benefits of Swimming
There are many people who enjoy swimming and include it in their regular exercise routine. But there is a lot more to swimming than many might expect. Actually, there are numerous health benefits that one reaps from participating in regular swimming activities. Many health professionals also feel that exercising in water has more benefits than various types of out of water exercises. Here are just a few of the health benefits that will be achieved by swimming regularly.
Weight Loss and Calorie Burning
Swimming is one activity that burns tons of calories. Most people burn somewhere between 500 and 650 calories per hour depending on several factors. For instance, those who swim efficiently burn fewer calories than those who sort of flop around a lot more. Your buoyancy also has an effect on how many actual calories are burned in swimming since the more body fat your body has the more you are going to float. This just means you’ll burn fewer calories while working to swim because some of the work is being done for you. There has been some research on the matter and some of the results show that swimming still burns nearly 90% as the calories burned running and about 98% of the calories you’ll burn cycling for the same amounts of time. Of course the number of calories you’ll burn relies largely on how much intensity is used to execute the movements. It is very possible that one could burn more calories swimming than other activities if you swim hard enough and long enough.
Losing Weight
When you burn more calories than you consume in a day the end result will be weight loss. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) has recommended that individuals exercise about 2 and a half hours minimally every week and cut 500 calories from your diet in order to lose weight. Regular exercise such as swimming can help you lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. Typically a person who weighs around 150 pounds will burn approximately 510 calories when they swim for an hour. Swimming uses virtually every muscle in the body and can burn more fat and calories than many other activities.
Cardiovascular Benefits of Swimming
Losing weight alone can improve cardiovascular health. Swimming helps to improve both balance and core strength. It is also a useful non-weight bearing form of exercise which helps you stretch out your muscles and improve mobility without putting too much pressure on your bones and joints. This makes swimming an effective way for individuals to work out their cardiovascular system. Swimming is a good way to get the heart rate up without stressing out the body. It also puts a lot less of a strain on the heart than other exercises like running. Your heart rate is not going to go up quite as high but it will still get a good workout. Your target heart rate will probably be 10 to 20 beats per minute slower. It can also be beneficial for helping control blood pressure and blood sugar levels.
Low Impact Exercise
Swimming can be very useful for people who have painful conditions like arthritis or any other types of musculoskeletal conditions. Exercising in warm water can help relieve joint stiffness and pain. Swimming is a gentle exercise that helps to relieve pain and increase the joint’s flexibility. It’s much easier to move around in the water without putting any extra pressure on the knees or other joints. Those who are overweight find that swimming and other water exercises help relieve chronic back pain as well.
Improve Strength, Endurance and Muscle Tone
Swimming can be a fun way to increase muscle strength and tone. Think about a runner. When they run they are only moving their body with a slight resistance produced by the air. However, when you are swimming you are providing resistance for every single muscle in your body. Water resistance is about 12 times denser than air. Each stroke and kick is a resistance exercise. This is a great way to build muscles. It takes a lot of work to propel your whole body through the water. The more you swim, the more endurance you will build up so that you can perform for longer periods of time.
Weight Loss and Calorie Burning
Swimming is one activity that burns tons of calories. Most people burn somewhere between 500 and 650 calories per hour depending on several factors. For instance, those who swim efficiently burn fewer calories than those who sort of flop around a lot more. Your buoyancy also has an effect on how many actual calories are burned in swimming since the more body fat your body has the more you are going to float. This just means you’ll burn fewer calories while working to swim because some of the work is being done for you. There has been some research on the matter and some of the results show that swimming still burns nearly 90% as the calories burned running and about 98% of the calories you’ll burn cycling for the same amounts of time. Of course the number of calories you’ll burn relies largely on how much intensity is used to execute the movements. It is very possible that one could burn more calories swimming than other activities if you swim hard enough and long enough.
Losing Weight
When you burn more calories than you consume in a day the end result will be weight loss. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) has recommended that individuals exercise about 2 and a half hours minimally every week and cut 500 calories from your diet in order to lose weight. Regular exercise such as swimming can help you lose weight or maintain a healthy weight. Typically a person who weighs around 150 pounds will burn approximately 510 calories when they swim for an hour. Swimming uses virtually every muscle in the body and can burn more fat and calories than many other activities.
Cardiovascular Benefits of Swimming
Losing weight alone can improve cardiovascular health. Swimming helps to improve both balance and core strength. It is also a useful non-weight bearing form of exercise which helps you stretch out your muscles and improve mobility without putting too much pressure on your bones and joints. This makes swimming an effective way for individuals to work out their cardiovascular system. Swimming is a good way to get the heart rate up without stressing out the body. It also puts a lot less of a strain on the heart than other exercises like running. Your heart rate is not going to go up quite as high but it will still get a good workout. Your target heart rate will probably be 10 to 20 beats per minute slower. It can also be beneficial for helping control blood pressure and blood sugar levels.
Low Impact Exercise
Swimming can be very useful for people who have painful conditions like arthritis or any other types of musculoskeletal conditions. Exercising in warm water can help relieve joint stiffness and pain. Swimming is a gentle exercise that helps to relieve pain and increase the joint’s flexibility. It’s much easier to move around in the water without putting any extra pressure on the knees or other joints. Those who are overweight find that swimming and other water exercises help relieve chronic back pain as well.
Improve Strength, Endurance and Muscle Tone
Swimming can be a fun way to increase muscle strength and tone. Think about a runner. When they run they are only moving their body with a slight resistance produced by the air. However, when you are swimming you are providing resistance for every single muscle in your body. Water resistance is about 12 times denser than air. Each stroke and kick is a resistance exercise. This is a great way to build muscles. It takes a lot of work to propel your whole body through the water. The more you swim, the more endurance you will build up so that you can perform for longer periods of time.