How is swimming healthy for you

Exercise is vital for looking after and improving…. Aerobic exercise reduces the risk of many health conditions. National guidelines recommend at least minutes of aerobic activity per week.

How often a person should work out depends on their exercise goals. This article looks at how often to work out for muscle gain, weight loss, and…. Swimmer's ear, or acute diffuse external otitis, usually occurs when bacteria from water infect the ear.

A person may contract it from spending time…. Physical and mental benefits of swimming. It provides a whole body workout. It builds cardiovascular strength. It is suitable for all ages and fitness levels. It is easy on the joints. It is good for people with injuries. It is good for people with disabilities.

It helps with asthma. It improves multiple sclerosis symptoms. It is safe during pregnancy. It burns calories. It helps regulate blood sugar. It helps improve sleep. It boosts mood. It helps manage stress. It could decrease heart disease risk. Latest news Could 'cupping' technique boost vaccine delivery?

Scientists identify new cause of vascular injury in type 2 diabetes. Adolescent depression: Could school screening help? This is good not only for the classroom and work, but it is beneficial for us as we age too.

Regular exercise reduces inflammation and insulin resistance in the brain, which fosters new brain cell growth. Swimmers on teams or in swim classes have better team-building skills. Swimmers learn to work together, to encourage each other, to communicate, and to become leaders. All of these skills translate into effective leaders in adulthood. Team-building skills encourage collaboration, goal orientation, inspiration, strategy development, and coordination, which all result in successful careers and professional relationships.

When you compare swimming to running , you can burn more calories swimming laps around the pool than you can running laps for an hour. One hour of vigorous lap swimming can burn as much as calories. The same amount of time running at 5 mph burns only calories. There is no secret pill to living longer, but the pool is like the fountain of youth. Regular swimming can delay the effects of aging by reducing blood pressure, increasing muscle mass, improving oxygen and blood flow to the brain, and increasing cardiovascular health.

Swimming can also improve physical strength and balance in seniors. Seniors who suffer from joint pains can hit the pool to increase flexibility and to reduce joint inflammation. Lastly, this low-impact sport is easier on the body. Swimming is great for people who suffer from chronic lung conditions such as asthma. Asthma sufferers, especially those with sports-induced asthma, can experience trouble because the loss of heat and moisture in the bronchial tubes causes the tubes to contract.

Swimming is the best exercise for asthma patients because the moisture from the water replaces the moisture expelled during vigorous breathing. Swimming is a confidence-building sport. Early evidence from an ongoing study out of Griffith University in Australia revealed that young swimmers are more confident than their non-swimming peers.

This is also true for competitive and non-competitive adult swimmers. Swimming teaches confidence in the pool and in the open water, which translates to confidence on land as well. Swimming is one of the best sports, as it does require minimal gear! You can workout with only a swimsuit and goggles! Jump in and have fun. Your life, health, and well being depend on it. Front crawl uses the deltoids which are the muscles in our shoulders, the side of the back, the triceps and bicep muscles of our arms.

The elegant stroke. Nail a good technique with this one and it can help improve your overall posture. It is also excellent for core strengthening and opening up the chest muscles. Backstroke is the one to help shape your upper back, lower back and thighs. The calorie burner. If you can keep it up, it is undoubtedly the stroke that burns the most calories. You need a lot of power for Butterfly, as it needs strong triceps and bicep muscles. It can help strengthen the shoulder muscles as you rotate the shoulders, and this develops the deltoid muscles.

As well as the back and chest, it takes a lot out of your legs and is one of the keystrokes that focuses on building a strong core. Morrissey explains, 'All strokes complement each other well, in that getting better at backstroke will help your front crawl or breaststroke. To improve your technique, Morrissey suggests to 'break down' strokes and then put them back together again. Try doing lengths of a certain stroke with just the kick and without using your arms, then follow it with the full technique and bring the arms back in.

Exercise is a well-known mood booster, but did you know it can help mitigate the effects of stress chemically, too? When you exercise, your body naturally reduces stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline whilst simultaneously creating feel-good endorphins — nature's mood lifters.

If you're stuck between work and a stressed place, carve out some time to move, in the pool or otherwise. A lot of us take the gift of free movement for granted. However, at one point or another in life you might suffer from a niggly injury or reduced mobility and at these times, make a splash. Morrissey explains, 'due to the reduction in body weight and stress it puts on your joints, swimming can offer the opportunity to move in ways that you can't on land owing to the support provided by the water.

As the majority of your body is in constant use when in the pool you can build cardio and muscle strength without adding extra stress or impact to existing problems. That said, do check in with an expert if you have an injury. As the water makes your limbs buoyant, thus helping to support them during exercise, swimming can be a beneficial workout for anyone suffering from MS.

But, how? One study looked at pain levels of MS sufferers in those who swam and those who didn't. Over a week swimming programme, those who did felt less pain. The Griffith Institute for Educational Research , a university in Australia, studied children under the age of five to see if swimming could affect their intelligence levels. The research showed that children swimming at an early age were mastering skills earlier than normal. The children who swam regularly had superior motor skills and were more adept at mastering skills like language and mathematics when compared to children who didn't swim.

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