Learn How to Swim
Swimming is the best exercise one can do to achieve many benefits - burn calories, lose weight, and achieve overall fitness. A sportswoman should integrate swimming workouts into her exercise program to improve her sports performance. Compared to any other exercise swimming uses al the major muscles groups, so is considered as the healthiest workout.
Swimming can easily burn calories at a rate of about 3 calories a mile per pound of bodyweight. With moderate intensity swimming for one hour, a 12lb woman can easily burn about 453 calories. This is equal to 1 hour of biking or 12-min mile run. However, it is quite difficult to swim for that duration.
Benefits of Swimming
Swimming is the best workout, as it involves muscles in of all your body parts - arms, legs, back, and other parts. As it is a low impact workout, there are less chances of getting injured. So, it is a suitable workout for all age groups. Regular swimming activity helps build endurance, improve muscle fitness and cardiovascular fitness. You can use swimming as a cross-training element to the regular workouts or as a warm-up before a land workout.
Swimming can be the best workout for anyone for its unique advantage of water buoyancy. Water buoyancy makes your body float in water. So, there is less impact on your joints.
Do It With Other Exercises
Though you use both your upper and lower body parts in swimming, it is mostly the upper body that gets used in your swimming workout. So, to balance, it is advised to add other forms of exercise like walking and running into your fitness routine. Walk or run at least twice a week along with daily swimming activity, to maintain a balanced fitness routine.
How to Swim?
For those just starting with their swimming workouts, a 12 to 20 minute swim is ideal. One should not over exert while swimming. Exercising at a pace that is comfortable is recommended. Beginners are usually not able to go several laps. But continuing on, and improving the swimming techniques will eventually pay off. In no time, the workout will feel comfortable enabling one to swim at greater lengths and periods.
How strenuous the swimming session is depends on the kind of strokes you use while swimming. Generally, the front call is most tiring. So, it is advised to mix it with other swimming strokes like breaststroke or backstroke.
Aside from swimming laps, some simple water exercises can be added to tone the muscles of the body. Doing leg lifts in the water will exercise the legs, stomach, and the back. Running in the water is a better alternative to swimming. To add fun to your swimming workout, try other water aerobic exercises like dancing.
Apart from physical and physiological benefit, there is an indirect benefit from swimming. Life skills such as time-management, self-discipline, goal-setting, and self esteem are invariably developed through regular swimming.