Swimming provides exercise and recreational fun for people of any age, size or fitness level. Basic swimming strokes are easy to learn in a few lessons. Swimming lessons are offered for children and adults alike, and learning to swim can create opportunities for fun and fitness.
Benefits
Swimming workouts improve cardiovascular health, raising your heart rate quickly because many muscles are involved. As you become a better swimmer, your heart rate will decrease because your body is getting oxygen to the muscles more effectively, and your heart doesn't need to beat as fast. Swimming also improves strength in the arms and legs, providing resistance training with every stroke.
Considerations
Swimming is an appropriate exercise and serves many purposes. For example, someone with an injury might find that swimming is therapeutic, even with limited range of motion. Swimming also helps people with arthritis because there is little impact, and the water temperature often is very soothing.
Concerns
Anyone with limited range of motion in their shoulders should avoid swimming. Also, if you don't know how to swim, you shouldn't try on your own. Never swim alone even, if you are an experienced swimmer. If you begin to feel dizzy while swimming, leave the water immediately. Never push your limits--you could wear yourself out and put yourself in a dangerous situation.
Modifications
Training specific body areas is easily done in swimming. To improve leg strength, try kicking with fins. Swimming generally improves upper-body strength, but freestyle and butterfly strokes are excellent workouts for your arms. In addition, if you don't kick, you can "pull-swim" for an enhanced upper-body workout.
Workouts
Always warm up before swimming, with a cool-down and stretching session after the workout. Aim for at least 30 minutes of swimming each session, but it depends on your fitness level and swimming knowledge. Add 10 minutes or 500 yards of swimming to your workouts each week to improve fitness levels. If you don't have a lot of time to swim, you can increase the intensity of your workouts by swimming faster or doing more challenging strokes.
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