Swimming is a sport that improves strength, tones muscles and works the whole body, stimulates joints and ligaments and helps in weight control and fat burning. Swimming is an aerobic sport suitable for all ages, the elderly, pregnant women or babies, as it is a type of physical activity with few risks and impact to the bones. Find out more about swimming for babies in 7 good reasons to put your baby in Swimming.
There are different styles and modalities of swimming that can be practiced: crawl, back, chest and butterfly, however, in the first classes it is normal for the teacher to teach very basic things, such as learning to lose the fear of water and to float, for example. Gradually, the person will learn some exercises and techniques that will help him to swim properly. It is therefore recommended to take swimming lessons 2 to 3 times a week, 30 to 50 minutes at a time.
5 Benefits of Swimming
Swimming has many health benefits, among which we can mention:
1. Works the whole body
Swimming is a very complete sport, which works most of the muscles of the body, unlike what happens in bodybuilding, for example, where the exercises are performed in a more localized way.
In addition, this sport increases muscle flexibility, which is why physical activity is recommended by doctors to help recover from injury or during the recovery period after surgery.
2. Strengthens joints and ligaments
This sport helps keep your joints and ligaments healthy and exercising while also improving your body's flexibility and posture.
In addition, this is a sport suitable for all ages because it is a low impact sport because the water cushions the impacts and is especially suitable for older ages where the risk of injury is greater.
3. Helps to lose weight and burn fat
As this is a sport done within water, the muscles are forced to exert more effort, which ultimately increases the expenditure of calories. But like all sports, the caloric expenditure of swimming depends on exercise intensity and weight loss, from its association with a healthy, balanced and low-calorie diet.
4. Fights stress and improves memory
The practice of swimming promotes pleasure and well-being, since the practice of exercise improves satisfaction and mood. In addition, it also improves blood circulation and oxygenation of the blood, improving memory and reasoning ability.
5. Improves breathing
Swimming is a sport with great respiratory requirement, which greatly improves breathing and aerobic capacity. With swimming, there is a greater strengthening of the muscles of the chest wall, which allows a better contraction and expansion of the lung, allowing the lungs to oxygenate the blood better.
