You might already know that swimming is one of the best sports for getting in shape. However, swimming is much more. Experts have linked swimming with a significant number of health benefits for athletes and amateurs alike. Some of the most well-known benefits of swimming are:
1) Burns many calories
Swimming has proven to be the best and most efficient sports discipline when looking to torch calories. While swimming, a 160-pound person is able to burn up to 423 calories an hour at a moderate pace.
When swimming at a more intense pace, the same person may burn approximately 715 calories an hour. A person weighing 200 pounds would burn between 538 and 892 calories doing the same exercises.
2) Increases lung capacity
This sport is an aerobic exercise recognized for building lung capacity. While doing aerobic exercise, your heart rate and lung efficiency increase. Swim activates the muscle groups, which require large volumes of oxygen to perform their task.
If you perform breath-control laps, you can choose to do your laps holding your breath or with low-frequency breathing. You will notice that, over time, you will be able to cover more distance.
3) Low impact on your joins
Similar to weight-lifting, swimming is a resistance exercise. However, unlike weight-lifting, swimming places almost no stress on your joints and bones. So, when you swim, not only are you working your muscles but also avoiding some of the negative impacts that lifting weights has.
4) Builds muscle mass
When you swim, you are constantly pulling and pushing off and against the water. This builds great muscle endurance and work capacity with the muscles of your shoulders, back, abs, lats, legs, tríceps, and traps.
5) No age limit
It is for all! You can be 80 years old, it doesn’t matter; swimming welcomes people of all ages and levels of ability. For the elderly in particular, swimming can help to decrease the risk of chronic illnesses like diabetes type 2 and it can increase the flexibility and mobility of sufferers of arthritis.