Swimming as a daily exercise is catching up among the urbanites as it is proving to increase bottom line health. 

To fall into shape, live a fit and healthy lifestyle, there are two primary elements that need to work out right – one is the individual’s will power to get you there and the second one is making the right choice about the equipment that will work for you. With the number of fitness machines & Home gym options available in store and online, you could literally get lost, searching.

Fitness equipment would need a healthy investment to be made too. There is one form of exercise that is not thought about as a muscle building, fat burning exercise, but more as an entertainment, fun & a family need, in summer alone – Swimming. The home pool or the community pool never figures in the picture as a place of exercise unlike the gym with which we associate our mental images. In that way, not many chose to build a pool at home to satisfy their intent or need to exercise, but most often as a fun addition that would double up as an attraction dinner during parties at home.

Go for a Swim … Forget the Gym!

Forget the Gym

Sometimes, even the gym cannot give you a total body workout – though swimming for a few minutes in the family pool can! But we never thought about swimming as a total body workout. Infact swimming every day is so good for the body that when combined with the right kind of food and lifestyle, can become the crux of your health and fitness routine. From toning your core to speeding up your metabolism, it can be your new go-to form of exercise all year long. Why? Because it is sure to deliver more energy, better health, and the motivation to keep coming back for more, all at the privacy of your backyard pool itself.

We always associate swimming with summer, though a warm pool can keep you warm and worked out even in the middle of winter. Swimming can keep you in shape and prevent you from overheating during a summer workout. Walking and running are great cardio workouts, but in the heat, they can often be dangerous. Swimming can help you get in shape, tone the body and lose weight while also keeping your body from overheating.

To start with, with regular swimming you will hone your mental focus, rid your system of toxins, and maybe even boost your performance in the bedroom in addition to having increased flexibility & strength for just about every other sport. If you are intent on body sculpting and are regular to the gym at home or nearby, then a swimming workout will actually improve overall performance at the gym and vice versa. Avoid elliptical burnout and a gym-class rut by switching gym workouts for the pool. All you need is a swimsuit, cap, and goggles.

Swimming gives a total-body workout every day, every time!

Swimming gives a total-body workout every day, every time

Water’s buoyancy in the pool counteracts the force of gravity, making swimming an ideal low-impact form of exercise for even senior citizens who might not fit enough for walking, jogging or running, which could impact their spine and hip joints.

As Swimming puts very little stress on those bones and joints there are only beneficial after effects and nothing to be pained about. If you could afford to swim in a heated pool, then even better, as your muscles tend to relax more in warm water, which also increases flexibility and enables you to engage in important stretching exercises.

On the other hand, if you are younger and at the other end of the spectrum, engaging in intense lactic-acid-building endurance workouts – like running, cycling or weights -swimming helps flush out toxins and impurities, preventing muscle tightness and soreness the next day. Swimming can shape and tone your muscles like a barbell, tackling everything from sculpting your back to toning your arms – all without having to pick up a weight. Unlike the many fitness routines focusing on separate and specific muscle groups, in the gym workout, all four swimming strokes work to strengthen your entire body.

Swimming is low impact & joint-friendly exercise

Swimming is low impact & joint-friendly exercise

Over two thirds of the body musculature is engaged when you swim. The upper and lower body, trunk, head, arms and legs are forced to work together to make a balanced effort. Swimming and other types of hydrotherapy are usually considered excellent ways to strengthen the neck and back and overcome or prevent painful injury.

If you’re recovering from an injury and are eager to build strength, then look into starting a swimming routine to stay fit.

As swimming eliminates any impact on your joints that can cause injury or pain, swimming is a great low-impact workout, especially for those who suffer from joint pain. If running is your passion, then swimming is a great way to work out on recovery days, allowing knees a rest from the pavement. Swimming works your body’s motor coordination.

Swimming is the ultimate aerobic activity. It maximizes your cardio. There is more breath control compared to running, thus an increased demand for oxygen, causing your muscles to work harder. Because of this, you can get more bang for you buck in a short amount of time.

Hydrotherapy – What Swimming can do to us!

Hydrotherapy – Working out on Hydrostatic Pressure

Water has a tendency to exert hydrostatic pressure on the body. Hydrostatic pressure is caused by the weight of fluid putting equal pressure on the fluids in our body. Despite feeling like silk against your skin, water creates a natural resistance 800 times greater than air. The pressure you feel when you enter the water is infact good for the body. The pressure forces your heart and lungs to work a little bit harder compared to regular exercise. In fact, doing even minimal activity in the pool works out your heart and lungs in a very different way than they are used to.

Turn your pool into an aqua-exercise machine

Turn your local pool into a giant exercise machine

Regular pool workouts can actually allow you to take in more air during land exercises. So, by taking a dip, you are conditioning your body to be a more efficient runner, too. Not only do they simultaneously tone and strengthen your major muscle groups, they also work the upper and lower body in tandem for maximum cardio fat frying.

Swim is one of the foremost exercises prescribed for treating people affected by scoliosis – which is the curvature of the spine.

Swimming cures your back pain & curved spine

Swimming cures your back pain

Swimming combines resistance training with cardio and puts your body through a range of movements, helping your muscles stay long and flexible. As swimming requires some breath control, it also improves your overall lung and breathing capacity. Go walking in chest deep water if you don’t want to do something as strenuous as swimming. Japanese research on people with low back pain who enrolled in an aquatic exercise program, which included swimming and walking in a pool, showed substantial improvements after six months of regular swimming. Overall water therapy is an extremely safe and gentle exercise activity and can be a powerful pain management option for those suffering from osteoarthritis pain. Above it all, jumping into a pool is refreshing! You don’t need to be a professional swimmer to reap the benefits. If anything, you’ll walk away with a nice tan and an endorphin kick.

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