Swimming can be a great way to get and stay fit …

It’s summer, and with heat waves plaguing parts of the country, people are enjoying refreshing themselves from the hot weather in the cool of swimming pools.

It seems like summer and swimming just go together!

But swimming can be much more than a refreshment from sweltering heat or just a summertime recreational activity, it can be an intentional and central part of a person’s personal exercise program. Swimming is a great all-around exercise with many benefits, including the following:

Keeps your heart rate up.

Helps take impact stress off the body.

Builds endurance, muscle strength, and cardiovascular fitness.

Tones muscles and builds strength.

Helps maintain a healthy weight, healthy heart, and healthy lungs.

Provides a total body workout, as nearly all of your muscles are used during swimming.

Offers variety with multiple swimming strokes, the option of underwater swimming, and an assortment of exercises that can be done in water with water providing low-impact resistance.

Helps improve coordination, balance, posture, and flexibility.

There’s more!

Swimming:

Is a relaxful, peaceful form of exercise and is thought to help improve sleep.

It can be enjoyed simply as a time of recreational leisure.

Helps alleviate stress.

Is exercise you can do year-round (with an indoor pool) and for life.

And you can swim in many places, from pools to ponds, lakes, rivers, ocean beaches, etc.

If working out at a gym or other common ways of getting and staying fit doesn’t excite or interest you, swimming might be just the exercise you need. It can also be added to a more traditional personal exercise regimen.

As always, before starting a new personal exercise program be sure to consult with a physician. And before diving into swimming as exercise, make sure you can swim first! Always choose a safe environment in which to swim, and it’s always safer to swim with someone than swimming alone.

Scotty