It’s no secret that the pool isn’t just a place for kids to play. Exercising in water has long been known as a vigorous alternative when recovering from injuries or simply when routines need a shakeup. Don’t believe swimming can be effective?  Researchers have repeatedly validated its effectiveness over the years. In fact, regular adult swimmers have a 28% lower risk of early death and a 41% lower risk of death due to heart diseases and stroke. Still not convinced? Here’s our round up of the top five reasons to jump in.

1. Swimming is a low impact exercise

Water Aerobics is a low impact activity that reduces the pressure on bones, joints, and muscles through buoyancy. It also can reduce body weight, allowing for people of all sizes to maintain a safe workout. Even though certain underwater moves use more energy, such as walking, and burn more calories, they are much slower-paced than if you did them on land.

2. Whole Body Conditioning

Water provides built-in resistance allowing for more intense workouts than land-based workouts. Even simple tasks like walking or running burn more calories in water. For maximum impact, swimming in styles like freestyle, breaststroke and backstroke provide whole body workouts by using all the major muscle groups at one time.

3. Less Injury Concern

Aquatic workouts are known for their rehabilitation properties. Water rehabilitation therapy can speed up recovery, is nearly pain-free, and helps people with physical injuries, be able to move around easier. People with arthritis can benefit greatly from water exercise as it supports the weight of their body, reduces the impact on joints and the intensity of perceived pain. Water exercise is not only beneficial to those with arthritis. Those who have sprains, strains, tears, knee surgery, hip surgery, and spine injuries can all find relief in the pool. As water will never allow you to fall to the ground, it is a great way to strengthen your muscles in a safe way.

4. Good for Cardiovascular Health

Just being in the water is known to reduce your high blood pressure by relaxing the blood vessels so they can carry more blood while presenting less resistance to the heart. A 2020 cross sectional study found that water aerobics is an effective way to protect against heart disease. Swimming, specifically, may also reduce mental stress, which is good for your overall cardiovascular well-being. Even simple activities such as  water walking can help your internal organs, like your lungs, because the water pressure makes them work harder than they would out of the pool.

5. Improves Mental Health

Swimming is an effective medicine for treating anxiety, depression and other mental illnesses. The direct effect that swimming has on our brain leads to several mental health benefits. These benefits include:

• Clears The Mind- Keeping track of your breathing patterns, amount of laps, and how close you are to other swimmers leaves little room for other distracting thoughts.

• Regulates Breathing- When stressed or panicked, you tend to take shallow and rapid breaths. This can lead to hyperventilation. However, the breathing pattern in swimming ensures that you take in enough air that can prevent the possibility of such attacks.

• Creates The Blue Mind Affect- Blue Mind is the mildly meditative state people fall into when they are near, in, under or on water. It is often referred to as water related peace. The color, sound and feel of water can lower pulse rate and increase feelings of calmness.

With a range of benefits to improve your overall health, water exercise is a great option to add to your summertime workout routine. Healthtrax Fitness and Wellness Center offers pools at select Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York and North Carolina fitness centers. We make it easy to hop in and splash around during family swim, get some laps in during lap swim or try out an aqua class free with membership. In addition to our Aqua Classes, like Aqua Fitness and Aqua Arthritis, we offer swim lessons for all ages.

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