Jumping in the pool and swimming laps benefits your entire body from your heart to the major muscles of your body. Lap training sculpts your muscles by using the water for resistance. Swimming also helps to prevent injuries, allows the body to burn major calories and improves your heart health.
Swimming For the Heart
Swimming benefits your heart health because training in the pool helps to build cardiovascular endurance. The vigorous amount of effort on your heart and lungs with swimming allows your heart to become in better shape and places less of a demand on your heart. Lap training also helps reduce your risk of obesity, high blood pressure, stroke, osteoporosis, arthritis and Type 2 diabetes.
Swimming for the Body
Swimming is a total body workout that works the upper body, lower body and the core. The shoulder, biceps, triceps and back are worked to push the water to propel yourself as you swim. Your glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps and hips work to kick your legs. The total body exercise allows your body to burn a high amount of calories. The Mayo Clinic explains that a 160 lbs. person burns 511 calories in one hour.
Swimming for the Mind
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explains that swimming can reduce stress and improve your mood. Swimming helps allow the mind to wonder freely. Being under the water provides a lack of distractions and a quiet place. You can also become more calm in the water by staying connected to your breath. The repetivite movement swimming provides and the awareness of the breath can help you reduce any anxiety or stresses.
Swimming for Injury Prevention
Swimming is one of the safest types of exercise. It helps prevent injuries because it is a low impact exercise that is easy on the joints. Swimming uses the resistance of the water to build strength instead of resistance of weights, which can often cause injury when they are too heavy.
